The Star: May 16, 2019

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The Star Thursday May 16 2019
SPORT 33
From first-five to Kiwi craft pies
• By Gordon Findlater
STEPHEN BRETT was once
regarded as the Crusaders next
great first-five before taking his
talents overseas.
Now, he’s reconnected with
two of his former Christchurch
Boys’ High School teammates
and is helping take a Kiwi
favourite to Europe.
Brett made 39 appearances
for the Crusaders between 2006
and 2009 scoring four tries and
amassing 164 points.
After hanging up his boots
last year, he’s now living in
Narbonne, France, and owns the
distribution rights to NZ Craft
Pies.
The company was started in
Sweden by Brett’s former CBHS
teammate Tom Simpson.
“I started three months ago
and business is booming. I’ve got
myself into a few restaurants and
a few stadiums,” he said.
“There’s so many tourists I
know over here and the first
thing they do when they get back
home is have a pie because you
don’t have that opportunity here,
so there’s a big market for it
. . . the French don’t really know
pies, so I’m just trying to get
them into the French locals, but
we’re getting good comments
from them.”
They have also recently
expanded into Germany with
the help of Josh Keys, who also
played with Brett and Simpson
at CBHS.
Brett got his first taste of
rugby at four-years-old with
Sydenham.
However, he soon switched
codes and joined the Woolston
Rams rugby league club as his
grandfather was the president.
He comes from strong rugby
pedigree – his mother, Lesley,
played three tests for the Black
Ferns and his step-father, Victor
Simpson, was a stalwart of the
Canterbury midfield who played
two tests for the All Blacks in
1985.
His father Steve Brett is also a
former New Zealand volleyball
rep and played in the National
Basketball League in the 1980s
for Palmerston North.
Brett played league until his
teenage years when he returned
to union at CBHS.
He won Press Cups with the
first XV in 2002 and 2003 and
continued a tradition of the
school producing stand out firstfives
during the 1990s and 2000s,
including the likes of Andrew
Mehrtens, Dan Carter, Aaron
Mauger and Colin Slade.
“I wouldn’t have a clue why
they produced so many, I think
the first-fives just want to go to
that school . . . thing is I’m the
only one out of the lot who never
became an All Black,” said Brett.
Following secondary school,
Brett quickly progressed through
the ranks and was playing NPC
for Canterbury just a year out of
CBHS.
In 2006, he made his Crusaders
debut from the bench before
going onto make a name for
himself with Canterbury.
Brett’s most memorable season
with the Crusaders came in 2007
during Dan Carter’s sabbatical,
which saw him play 12 games
and have kicking duties for a
large chunk of the campaign.
In his early Crusaders days,
Brett shared an apartment with
former school friends before
moving in with Sean Maitland
and Kahn Fotuali’i near Rugby
Park.
“We used to ride our little 50cc
motorbikes to training,” he said.
“Back in those days we were all
single, so we went out for dinner
more often than we cooked.”
Following the 2009 Crusaders
•Over the Super Rugby season, The Star will look back each week
at some of the identities who graced the Crusaders jersey in the
past and discover where they are now
FLAIR: Brett turned heads
during his time with the
Crusaders as an exciting
runner of the ball at first-five,
now he’s selling Kiwi-style
pies in France. ​
campaign, Brett signed with the
Blues for two seasons.
“For me to get a better look
into the All Blacks I needed to
get out of DC’s [Dan Carter]
shadow. I had some chats with
Pat Lam and he proposed a really
good thing and it was something
I needed at that point in my
career,” said Brett.
In his final season with the
Blues in 2011, Brett helped them
Super Rugby semi-finals. Since
then the Auckland franchise
hasn’t made a play-off appearance.
Any staunch Crusaders fan
could also point out that Brett
was probably the last decent firstfive
to grace a Blues jersey.
However, Brett’s Blues days
ended in bizarre fashion.
He was rushed to hospital after
cutting his foot open at an end
of season party at Ali Williams’
house. Brett came out of a spa
pool and stood on a glass by the
side of it. He required a surgical
exploration, wash out and repair
of the damaged toes.
Soon after Brett moved to
Japan to join Toyota Verblitz on
a two-year deal, which ended any
hopes of an All Black cap.
“I probably shouldn’t have left
when I did to be honest. I probably
did leave a little bit early, but
I got offered a contract I couldn’t
resist,” he said.
Brett moved to France in 2013
and had stints with Narbonne,
Bayonne, Lyon and Clermont.
“I fell out of rugby when I was
playing over here if I’m honest
. . . back home there’s no pressure,
you just play for the love of
the game and your mates. Over
here if you lose a couple of games
you’ve got the club presidents
coming down on you.”
After retiring from rugby
with Narbonne last year, he has
become the club’s video analyst
and hopes to become a full-time
coach, working towards a degree
in September.
•More sport pages 34-36
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