{"id":192234,"date":"2025-06-17T17:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/192234\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T17:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:32:09","slug":"ex-all-blacks-forward-handed-career-lifeline-after-scary-time-in-france-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/192234\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-All Blacks forward handed career lifeline after ‘scary time’ in France : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala has been handed a career lifeline, signing a contract with Gloucester after being on the brink of retirement.<\/b><\/p>\n

The tighthead prop\u2019s playing career hung in the balance when he was released mid-season by French Top 14 club Toulouse after rupturing his Achilles tendons.<\/p>\n

Nepo Laulala returns from the brink of retirement<\/p>\n

He has since spent the last three months rehabilitating at Kingsholm and is expected to return to the field by the start of the league season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really grateful to George [Skivington<\/a>, Gloucester<\/a> Director of Rugby] and everybody at Gloucester for welcoming me to Kingsholm after going through a pretty rough time in France,\u201d Laulala<\/a> said in the club\u2019s statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a scary time not knowing where my future lay, but I\u2019m looking forward to repaying everybody here for the faith they\u2019ve put in me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard great things about Gloucester and the Cherry & White fans, and I can\u2019t wait to get out there and play in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The powerhouse prop was the cornerstone of the All Blacks<\/a>\u2018 pack for eight years, amassing 53 Test caps. He represented New Zealand at two Rugby World Cups, finishing in third place in Japan in 2019 and second in France in 2023.<\/p>\n

Educated Wat esley College, Laulala represented Auckland and Canterbury in the ITM Cup and made his Super Rugby debut for the Crusaders. He also went on to have stints with the Chiefs and Blues.<\/p>\n

Can Mark Tele\u2019a play for the Springboks and 10 All Blacks who could switch international teams before the World Cup<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gloucester confirm second Leinster signing as efficient winger \u2018relishing\u2019 Premiership challenge<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gloucester ins and outs<\/p>\n

After two seasons and 38 appearances back in Auckland with the Blues, Laulala moved to the Northern Hemisphere after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, joining French giants Toulouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cNepo is a 50-odd cap All Black, and that pretty much speaks for itself in terms of the calibre of player we\u2019ve signed,\u201d said Skivington.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe moved quickly to get him here in the building and start his rehab, which gave us a jump on the other side\u2019s, and most importantly, Nepo has been really grateful for how we\u2019ve supported him with his injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s looking really good, he\u2019s coming through all the tests that we\u2019ve been putting him through, and we\u2019re confident he can have a big impact for us this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big thanks must go to Rhys Hughes and the Medical Department for the work they\u2019ve done with Nepo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laulala is the latest confirmed signing for Gloucester, with the club signing James Venter, Jack Innard, Josh Basham, Jack Mann, Will Trenholm, Mike Austin, Ross Byrne, Will Joseph, Ben Loader and Rob Russell ahead of next season.<\/p>\n

Last month the club also announced 19 departees: Freddie Clarke, Charlie Chapman, Ruan Ackermann, Chris Harris, Santiago Carreras, Albert Tuisue, Louis Hillman Cooper, Morgan Adderly Jones, Mayco Vivas, Ioan Jones, Rory Taylor, Morgan Nelson, Alfie Petch, Christian Wade, Gareth Anscombe, Gareth Blackmore, Zach Mercer, Aristot Benz Salomon and Matty Ward.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0<\/b>Premiership Team of the Season: David Campese hails \u2018exquisite\u2019 Finn Russell as Springboks \u2018machine\u2019 powers Bath to the title<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former All Blacks prop Nepo Laulala has been handed a career lifeline, signing a contract with Gloucester after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,78578,5014,225,78579,704,12,6875,2357],"class_list":{"0":"post-192234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-george-skivington","12":"tag-gloucester","13":"tag-home-page","14":"tag-nepo-laulala","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-premiership","18":"tag-transfers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114699904235888892","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}