Ma’a Nonu continues to defy logic as the All Blacks legend not only continues to play or compete at a professional level but shine too.

At the age of 43, most internationals are well into their post-rugby careers, whether that’d be punditry, wealth management or whatever floats their boat; hell, Scott Robertson was overseeing his first season as the Crusaders head coach when he was that old.

But not Ma’a Nonu. The powerhouse centre continues to put his body through the gruelling demands of being a professional rugby player and goes against the norm of retiring in your 30s.

Ma’a Nonu defies logic

Sure, he is not the all-court world-class midfielder that helped the All Blacks win back-to-back World Cups and formed possibly the greatest centre pairing of all-time with Conrad Smith, but he is no slouch, and he proved that point in his most recent appearance for Top 14 giants RC Toulon.

Nonu came off the bench in the club’s round 14 meeting with Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle, and despite being 49-0 down at the time, the All Blacks great did not let his standards drop.

Toulon opted to rest a plethora of their star players for the league meeting, prioritising this weekend’s Investec Champions Cup tie against Munster instead.

This meant that Nonu was featuring in a team with a bunch of youngsters, some of whom are half his age, but as he has done throughout his career, he wore his heart on his sleeve with an insane try-saving intervention.

La Rochelle were camped inside the Toulon 22 and looked certain to ruthlessly add to their ever-growing points tally with replacement tighthead prop Aleksandre Kuntelia surging towards the line from close range.

The front rower was powering through the tackle of 20-year-old Toulon centre Oliver Cowie and seemingly did enough to simply flop over the line if it weren’t for Nonu’s brilliance.

The ex-Blues centre had identified the threat, wrapped around the breakdown and miraculously managed to get his mitts onto the ball, still in Kuntelia’s grasp. He sensationally spun out of the tackle and came away with the ball in his hands, denying the La Rochelle front rower a try.

Next up for Toulon and La Rochelle

While Nonu’s efforts denied La Rochelle, it mattered little in the grander scheme of things as O’Gara’s men marched to a thumping 66-0 victory, racking up nine tries in the process.

Wallabies Tolu Latu (2) and Will Skelton were among the try scorers, as was ex-Springbok back Dillyn Leyds, Georgian star Davit Niniashvili and Fijian Levani Botia. Nolann Le Garrec walked away with a personal haul of 24 points, which also included a try, with the other five-pointers coming from Jules Favre and Kirill Fraindt.

La Rochelle will hope that the result has given them the confidence needed to overcome the challenge of facing Leinster in Dublin this weekend, with All Blacks star Rieko Ioane named in the Irish club’s starting lineup for the clash.

Meanwhile, Nonu has not been named in the Toulon team to face Munster, with head coach Pierre Mignoni making wholesale changes for the trip to Thomond Park.

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