In truth, Tyler Bleyendaal never achieved his full potential as a rugby player.
A native of Christchurch, his potential was flagged from a long way out. There must be something in the water around Canterbury. The region seems to produce supremely talented out-halves at a prolific rate. This is the place where Andrew Mehrtens, Dan Carter and now Richie Mo’unga learned their trade. A trio of iconic All Black No10s.
Many believed that Bleyendaal would follow the same path.
Indeed, he led a New Zealand U20 team, which featured Julian Savea and Charlie Ngatai, to
Junior World Cup glory in 2010. Bleyendaal was earmarked for big things and, for many observers in his native land, it was a matter of when, not if, he would pull on the hallowed black jersey at international level.
So, it was something of a shock when he signalled his intention to up sticks and leave for Munster in 2014. Rob Penney, the former Canterbury coach, had failed to entice him to Limerick a few years previously. Anthony Foley, his successor as Munster supremo, succeeded in getting the deal over the line.
New Zealand felt they had lost a real talent. Munster – and the IRFU – felt they had pulled off a major transfer coup. A certain Corkman just hung up his boots and Bleyendaal was seen as the perfect candidate to fill a seismic void at out-half.
Then, disaster struck. Munster’s new signing suffered a neck injury while on club duty with Canterbury. An issue that would plague the rest of his playing career. An eerily familiar occurrence for marquee signings at Thomond Park.
He arrived at his new club after undergoing surgery on a prolapsed disc. The recovery process would be long and arduous. But Munster backed Bleyendaal to bounce back and deliver for his new club.
‘We as a club need to look after the player and it’s not a piece of meat we are dealing with,’ Foley said at the time.
‘It’s a human being, so there is a human side to this that we need to manage, and that is what Munster is about, it’s about the people.
‘If a player has committed to us in terms of contract we need to make sure we are looking after this player as well.’
Ultimately, Bleyendaal struggled with injuries throughout his five-year spell with the province. He featured in just 62 games before announcing his retirement at age 29 in May 2020.
The 2016/17 campaign was his finest in the red jersey. Foley’s death had a profound effect on the playing group. Fittingly, Bleyendaal delivered his best Munster display on an emotionally-charged Champions Cup win against Glasgow at Thomond Park, 24 hours after the Munster head coach had been laid to rest. It later emerged that the New Zealander travelled to Foley’s home in Killaloe and presented his man-of-the-match award to the late head coach’s son.
Bleyendaal featured in 27 games – including 25 starts – that season. He was voted Munster’s player of the year and was named on the Pro12 Dream Team.
Joe Schmidt was taking note and invited the Kiwi to train with the national team at Carton House, with a view to capping him at Test level once he completed his three years of residency.
Indeed, if things had worked out, Bleyendaal could have been lining out against the country of his birth at the past two World Cups. Who knows what he could have achieved with Munster.
Alas, that niggling neck injury eventually put paid to his ambitions at club and international level. He went under the knife again in 2018 and although he made it back for a spell, Bleyendaal eventually decided to call it quits.
His next career move was a nobrainer. Bleyendaal was made for coaching. Coaches and teammates often spoke of his rugby brain and tactical acumen. He would rarely be seen at team meeting without a notebook in hand. Some of his Munster pals dubbed him ‘The General’.
Here’s a quote from current All Blacks boss Scott Robertson on his former protégé from a long time ago: ‘Everyone speaks really highly of him and he will be a coach, one day, no doubt.’
Former Munster centre and coach Jason Holland saw huge potential in Bleyendaal.
‘I think he’s got a pretty awesome rugby brain, that boy,’ he told this newspaper in 2021.
‘I think he will make an awesome coach when he finishes playing footy.’
Unsurprisingly, it was Holland who offered Bleyendaal his first big coaching gig when he joined the Hurricanes coaching set-up in 2020.
When Holland left his post to link up with Robertson’s newlook All Blacks backroom team after the last World Cup, Clark Laidlaw took the big job at Hurricanes and retained Bleyendaal’s services.
The Wellington franchise are flying it in Super Rugby at the moment, with seven wins from seven in this season’s competition. And Bleyendaal has been lauded for his impact on the team’s attack. A self-confessed rugby obsessive and sponge for detail, he was recently part of a Tongan coaching team which crossed paths with Ireland during the pool stages of last year’s World Cup in France.
Now, he is set for an exciting new chapter in a fledgling coaching career. This industry is all about the butterfly effect. One departure from a big set-up elicits a chain reaction.
When Mike Catt signalled his intention to leave his post as Ireland backs coach, Andy Farrell had to source a high-calibre replacement. Leinster assistant coach Andrew Goodman impressed the most and will join Ireland’s ranks this summer.
That left another void at Leinster and Cullen scoured the globe for a new coach who could continue the solid foundations laid down by Stuart Lancaster and Goodman.
Bleyendaal made a big impression and he will head for Dublin in the coming months. His wife, Laura, and two sons, Bodhi and Riley, will make the journey, too.
At least there will be some familiar faces when he pitches up to Leinster’s headquarters in UCD. Jordie Barrett, who Bleyendaal coached at the Hurricanes, will be on board next term. Jacques Nienaber, his onetime defence coach at Munster, will also be there.
No doubt, his first visit to Thomond Park will be an emotional occasion.
He is sure to have feelings of unfinished business about his time there. He had the potential to be one of the greats but Bleyendaal’s career is filed away in the ‘what could have been’ category.
Still only 33, he looks primed to make a huge impact as a coach, however. This Leinster juggernaut has added another serious weapon to its ranks.
