Taione aiming to cause Andrew even more strife

His name was Epi Taione and Andrew, then Newcastle Falcons manager, needed to rescue his Polynesian protege from a love of late nights and carousing.

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Tomorrow night Andrew, now the RFU's elite director of rugby, might be wishing he hadn't bothered as he watches Tonga's fearsome flanker-cum-centre target his former Newcastle team mate Jonny Wilkinson.

'I'd be in the bars until two o'clock in the morning and Jonny would be practising his goalkicking until round about two o'clock in the morning,' recalled Taione, laughing at the thought of it.

'I'd say that was the big difference between us. Playing alongside him at Newcastle, he helped me a lot and I'm looking forward to meeting him again.'

The feeling is unlikely to be mutual. England, their confidence still fragile despite saving their necks against Samoa in Nantes last week, approach their quarter-final eliminator with understandable apprehension and nobody will be more aware of Taione's destructive capacity than Andrew.

Taione, who began his career with junior club Tynedale after arriving in the north-east under the wing of Newcastle's mighty All Black Va'aiga Tuigamala, jokes about Andrew being 'the most boring man' he's met.

'It's no surprise he should call me boring because I spent most of my time at Newcastle trying to get him out of the pub,' said Andrew.

'When "Inga" left, there was no one to keep an eye on him and drag him out of the pubs and clubs.

'I had to rely on spies all around Newcastle reporting back to tell me where he was and what time he'd left. Epi is a great player and a great character, as was evident from the first day he joined Newcastle.

He and Jonny almost grew up together at Newcastle, starting as 18-year-olds. Certainly Epi will be a handful, just like always.'

Taione, a fearsome sight on the charge, admits there were times when his professional career might have ended almost before it began.

'What Rob Andrew says is true,' he said. 'Back then I was a freespirited kid coming out of the islands and seeing too many bright lights in a place like Newcastle.

'It was an experience which I've never regretted. It's in my nature to enjoy life but there were times when the P45 was sitting there for me.

'I could tell by the look on Andrew's face one day that he was in the mood to beat me up. He can be quite a fiery character and then when Steve Black, the fitness coach, called you in, you knew you were in trouble.

He'd say: "If you play up again, you'll be sorry". Cross my heart, Blackie's a fatherfigure to me, so I kept on the right side of him.

'I'll always be grateful to Rob for signing me and believing in me. I owe it to him that he gave me the opportunity to play rugby for a living in England. It will be good to get one over on Mr Andrew. He is still very boring.'

Taione left Newcastle for Sale three seasons ago — not because of his drinking but because the Cheshire club offered a hefty sixfigure contract.

His accident-prone tendency made the stay in Manchester a truncated one, initially when he disappeared without permission to play for Tonga against France A and added injury to insult by breaking the finger of Sale's prize French possession, Sebastien Chabal, in a collision.

Not long afterwards, a European Cup disciplinary tribunal gave him a six-month ban for biting Ireland No 8 Denis Leamy on the arm during a match against Munster in Limerick.

'Philippe Saint-Andre, the coach at Sale, was very emotional when he found out about Chabal's injury,' said Taione. 'If he had been big enough, he would have hung me upside down. That's how angry he was.

'But again I have no regrets because playing for Tonga means everything to me. This match against England is the biggest in our history. It's the biggest thing Tonga has ever been associated with.'

Despite scaring the wits out of South Africa last week, Taione acknowledges that the presence of his 28-year-old contemporary at Newcastle tilts the balance against a giant-killing.

'England with Jonny Wilkinson are a totally different team than they are without him,' he said.

'He pulls the strings, which is what you'd expect from one of the biggest names in world rugby. But we are thinking only of winning. Nothing else.'