All Blacks legend Sam Whitelock’s Top 14 debut ruined by Los Pumas star’s boot

Adam Kyriacou
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Former All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock at his first press conference as a Pau player.

Former All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock at his first press conference as a Pau player.

All Blacks great Sam Whitelock’s long-awaited debut for Pau ended in a loss as his new side went down to a 34-13 negative to Oyonnax at the Stade Charles-Mathon.

Victory would have seen Pau move to the summit of the Top 14 standings ahead of Racing 92’s visit to Bayonne on Saturday, but the visitors were well beaten in the end.

Whitelock, whose club debut had been delayed due to concussion that ruled him out of facing off against Clermont last week, started in the second-row in this Round 11 clash.

Played 51 minutes

The most capped All Blacks player of all-time played 51 minutes for his new French employer after making the move from long-time Super Rugby giants the Crusaders.

He started alongside brother and flanker Luke Whitelock while former Wasps scrum-half Dan Robson and ex-Exeter fly-half Joe Simmonds linked up together in the halves.

Simmonds kicked eight points which included the conversion to Pau‘s only try of the evening, which came from Georgian number eight Beka Gorgadze after 31 minutes.

Oyonnax’s tries were scored by Darren Sweetnam, Jonathan Ruru and Daniel Ikpefan, with Argentina fly-half Domingo Miotti starring with 19 points off the tee for his team.

The surprising victory moves Oyonnax up to 10th on the Top 14 table while Pau drop to third place but could fall even further if results go against them over the weekend.

Whitelock wait over

For Whitelock, the 35-year-old will be pleased to have finally made his bow after joining Pau after the 2023 Rugby World Cup as he helped New Zealand reach yet another final.

It’s been a record-breaking year for Whitelock, who broke Richie McCaw’s appearance record for the All Blacks, becoming the first player to play 150 Tests for New Zealand.

He also notched up 125 wins for the All Blacks, a tally only McCaw (131) has bettered and became the first player to play in three World Cup finals, winning in 2011 and 2015.

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