Page 16 - Blues v The Lions

It was when Payne signed for the the Blues from the the Crusaders that his Super Rugby career began to take off
although it’s also a a a a a a move that ultimately led him to British British rugby’s greatest side “Being named in in the British British & Irish Lions squad was was a a a a a a a a a major major thrill but a a a a a a a a a major major surprise ”
he says “I wasn’t expecting it it I’d been out injured for months with a a a a fractured kidney I I I mean I I I didn’t even know it it was possible to to fracture a a a a a a a a kidney but I I managed to to do it anyway and I I missed most of the the Six Nations So being named in in the the squad was a a a a a a a shock but a a a a a a a lovely one “I remember watching the 2005
tour and just being so excited by that that It never ever ever dawned on me that that my life would turn out the way it has but here I I am Since we rst met up I’ve been been telling the lads who haven’t been been to to New Zealand before what kind of welcome they were going to to get The hospitality will will be be incredible Yeah the the the rugby will will will be be intense but the the the country will will embrace the the the British & Irish Lions and they’ll make it it an unforgettable experience for for all those coming here ”
Payne’s journey took him to to to Waikato in 2006 as a a a a a a a young man with a a a a a a a lot of promise though not enough for his Payne right during his Super Rugby days with the the Blues in in in action against the the Crusaders “I watched the 2005
tour It never dawned on me that my life would turn out the way it has but here I am ”
coach Warren Gatland who declined to re-contract him when his deal was up in 2008 That has been the source of of much humour more recently – an an illustration of of how how odd life can be how how many unexpected twists and turns in the the road there are sometimes “We’ve had a a a a a a a a a a a bit of a a a a a a a a a a a laugh about that me me me me and Gatty ”
he he he he says “At the time he he he he challenged me me me me to go somewhere else and develop I I guess I I needed
16 // OFFICIAL SOUVENIR PROGRAMME