‘It’ll be different, going in to the away dressing room at the Arms Park, but Cardiff is special for me’
Wales will always hold a special place in the heart of Paul Tito. It’s where he spent five happy and successful years with Cardiff Blues, captaining the side for a number of seasons and lifting two pieces of silverware.
It’s where he became a cult hero among Blues supporters, with his name echoing around the Arms Park.
And it’s also where his two children – Livvy and Ollie, now 10 and 8 respectively – were born.
The city means a lot to the New Zealander.
So, it will be an odd feeling next season when he returns to the Arms Park and finds himself heading for the away dressing room.
The ex-second row is now a forwards coach at French club Pau, who have been drawn in the same pool as the Blues in the European Challenge Cup.
When I tracked him down in the Pyrenees, it was clear just how much he is looking forward to heading back to the Welsh capital and how much he enjoyed his time here.
It was back in 2007 that the man from Taranaki arrived at the Blues, having been signed from the Wellington-based
Hurricanes.
He was pretty much an instant hit, with fans warming to his physical commitment and whole-hearted endeavour, as well as his lineout expertise.
In his second season, he was handed the captaincy and led the team to an EDF Cup final rout of Gloucester at Twickenham, with a famous Amlin Cup final triumph over Toulon to follow in Marseilles the next year.
So, a decade or so on, how does he reflect on his spell with the Blues?
“Oh, I had a great time in Cardiff,” he says.
“Going to work on Monday was easy because we had a successful team and won a lot of games.
“We had a good balance between experienced Welsh and Kiwi guys and youthful, upcoming boys like Jamie (Roberts), Leigh (Halfpenny) and Josh Navidi, who have kicked on to bigger and greater things.
“Wales is always going to be special to me because both my babies were born there.
“I have always got that real special bond with Cardiff. I think the Welsh are very similar to Kiwis. It’s often said and I think it’s true.
“We are modest people that just get on with it and enjoy life.
“I loved my time in Cardiff and I’d never trade that for anything. “We had some great times.”
The bonds formed during that period are illustrated by the fact that Tito remains in close contact with a number of his old Blues pals.
“I have got great mates there and I have been over a few times since we went home,” he said.
“There’s Xavier Rush and Martyn Williams - even if Nugget has mainly been texting about the cricket this week!
“Ceri Sweeney is a champion, he always keeps in touch. Then you’ve got Richie Rees, Gethin Jenkins and TR (Rhys Thomas), who are still involved at the Blues.
“We have got a good bond of guys, a good crew that still keeps in touch and I catch up with them when I am back.
“Now we have drawn them in the Challenge Cup, I look forward to going back to do battle against them.
“It will be a bit different going into the away dressing room at the Arms Park. “But it’s awesome. I love going back to Cardiff and seeing old mates and that.
“It will be 80 minutes of real good work and then catching up with everyone. That’s what it’s all about.”
When I was trying to get hold of contact details for Tito, I spoke to a number of his former Blues teammates and it was notable how, to a man, they spoke so highly of him.
They also all referred to him simply as Fish, a nickname he’s had since his school days, while all his messages to me as we arranged our chat were accompanied by a fish emoji.
Why? Well, there’s a fish in New Zealand called the orange roughy and that sort of summed Tito up, with the ginger-haired lock’s robust style going down well with the Arms Park faithful.
“What the fans want to see is performance out on the park,” he said.