THERE’S A TATTOO on the inside of Alex Nankivell’s left wrist.
It says ‘William,’ who is the brother that Munster centre Nankivell never got a chance to meet.
Now, he carries William’s name with him everywhere he goes.
William fought neuroblastoma, a form of cancer, and was only four when he passed away in January 1996. The cancer had gone into remission in 1995, meaning he was able to go on a trip to Europe with his parents, Kim and Fiona, but it returned when they arrived home in New Zealand.
“I don’t know how my parents went through that,” says Nankivell.
What makes it all the more poignant is that Alex was born nine months after William passed away.
“My parents say that I’m like a gift from him.”
The tattoo is located such that Nankivell can see it whenever he needs a bit of inspiration or to feel thankful for what he has.
“For me, it’s one of the things that drives me. He never had the chance to have an opportunity at life.
“Whatever’s going on, you’re always reminded to be pretty grateful.”
As well as keeping his brother’s name close to his heart, Nankivell is involved with the Cure Kids charity in New Zealand, helping to raise funds for research into life-impacting health conditions that affect children.
Family clearly means a lot to 27-year-old Nankivell, whose parents have been in Ireland recently to watch him play and see the country. Alex has another older brother, Hugo.
So leaving New Zealand was a big decision, not just in terms of rugby, but Nankivell has settled into life with Munster impressively. The province’s fans have warmed to him quickly and the powerful centre even has a Munster-themed celebration already, flashing up a stag’s antlers after his maiden try against Glasgow recently.
Nankivell used to play for the Tasman Mako, whose logo is a mako shark, and their players nearly always mimic a shark’s fin over their head after scoring tries.
“The boys here had seen I chuck the fin up for the Tasman Mako, so me and Craig Casey said we could do a stag instead,” says Nankivell with a smile.
“It was a bit of a joke but I scored my first try and thought I’d chuck it up. Hopefully, it gets a bit of purchase!”
There have been challenges for Nankivell on the pitch as he adapts, but he’s been enjoying life in Limerick so far. After taking a step into the unknown, he feels that he made the right decision.
Nankivell was born in Auckland but grew up in the rugby-mad city of Christchurch. His dad brought him and Hugo to see Canterbury and the Crusaders whenever possible and the lads grew up dreaming about being All Blacks.
Hugo was good enough to earn a few caps for the Waikato provincial team, while Alex shone as a young fella at the famous Christchurch Boys’ High School. He was on the same team as All Blacks sensation Will Jordan and current Glasgow fullback Josh McKay, who Nankivell got to play against a few weeks ago.
Nankivell signed a professional rugby contract with the Tasman provincial side straight out of school and within a couple of years had earned a call-up to the Chiefs in Super Rugby, initially as injury cover for now-Leinster centre Charlie Ngatai.
Nankivell had been in the Crusaders academy but the chance to play senior rugby was one he couldn’t turn down. When he moved up to Hamilton to join the Chiefs, he rented a room in James Lowe’s house. They had already played together for Tasman, so Lowe enjoyed taking Nankivell under his wing.
“He’s a good man,” says Nankivell. “He was exactly like what he is now, he hasn’t changed.
“I was only 19 when I moved up to the Chiefs. He likes to say he mentored me, which he did to be fair, took me under his wing and taught me how to be an adult in a small capacity, not that I really want to give that to him!”
Nankivell developed into a key man for the Chiefs, who weren’t able to repeat their Super Rugby successes of 2012 and 2013 while he was there but who nonetheless had a squad littered with top-class players.
“Liam Messam was my first roommate at the Chiefs which was pretty headcase,” he says. Brodie Retallick was another big figure he looked up to.
Fellow centre Anton Lienert-Brown was a big influence on Nankivell, as was David Havili in Tasman, but they were also a roadblock in terms of his ambitions to play Test rugby.
Nankivell did star for the New Zealand Māori, discovering his Māori blood through DNA testing, and featured for the All Blacks XV as recently as November 2022 against Ireland in Dublin, but there was never a senior call-up despite his excellence in Super Rugby.
So when the end of his contracts with the Chiefs and Tasman loomed this year, his ambition of playing in Europe was a stronger pull than ever. He wanted to come to this part of the world in his prime, rather than with a half-broken body in his 30s.
“Obviously, it was my dream to be an All Black but the way I look at it, I’ve been doing the same thing in New Zealand for a long time,” says Nankivell.
“Chipping away, chipping away, had a little bit of feedback that I was close but then you don’t really hear much and don’t make any squads. Then you look at the guys in the squad – Rieko Ioane, Anton Lienert-Brown, Jordie Barrett, David Havili – those guys are a similar age to me.
“That’s a core group of world-class midfielders so you might have to hedge your bets on an injury, then you lose another year of an opportunity to come to the other side of the world and play for a club like Munster.”
Unfortunately, Nankivell isn’t Irish-qualified. His DNA testing showed that he’s 4% Irish but Test rugby eligibility doesn’t work like that.
He could qualify for Ireland if he lives here for five years, but that’s not something he considered when weighing up Munster’s offer. For now, he’s got his hands full making sure he continues to adapt to his new life.
Off the pitch, it has been as smooth as he could have hoped for after a nervy moment just before leaving New Zealand.
“I got on the plane in Auckland and it was like, ‘F*ck, this is real life, it’s actually happening.’
“I had been so comfortable in New Zealand, played 80 games for Tasman, 70 games for the Chiefs, part of the furniture almost. That fear of the unknown, everything being new, that’s when it kicked in.
“But as soon as I got here, the way the boys have welcomed me, it’s a good core group of young guys and we like to get out for a coffee, go to Adare for a feed, so I’m not just sitting in the flat playing Playstation.”
It helped hugely that John Ryan was back in Munster before him. The experienced tighthead joined the Chiefs on the same day that Nankivell’s move to the Irish province was announced, so it was a case of perfect timing. Ryan – “the middle man” – got daily questions from Nankivell about life in Munster. He picked the Kiwi up in Dublin Airport when he arrived in October and even set him up with a place to live.
He shares an apartment with Alex Kendellen and Paddy Patterson, while his adaptation on the pitch has been strong in his first seven appearances. He has struck up a promising midfield partnership with Antoine Frisch, who he combines with again for tomorrow’s Champions Cup clash with Exeter.
That said, Nankivell believes there’s plenty more to come. There are subtle differences in what Munster do compared to the Chiefs and Tasman, even if Nankivell says there is a lot that’s the same too.
“I don’t feel like I have fully hit my rhythm just yet. It’s the little details that I haven’t fully grasped or my habits have been different in New Zealand,” he says.
“The stereotype of Northern Hemisphere rugby back in New Zealand is a lot of set-piece and a lot of kicking with the weather.
“Maybe that’s a bit of ignorance from our side of the world. We don’t play like that at all here in Munster. To me, it’s a lot like the Chiefs. Lots of backs always swinging, working off the ball, trying to create extra numbers, trying to get the ball to space or even just one-on-ones with backs.
“But then there’s little intricacies in the game. The lines you run, the little shapes that we’ll run in New Zealand but do a little bit differently here. A few things like that that I’m trying to get used to. I’ve had these habits for 10 years in New Zealand and having to change them now.
“Sometimes you resort back to what you know but the lads have been really good here. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come over at the age I have, to experience a different way of playing the game.”
He speaks highly about the Munster coaching staff and their “impressive attention to detail” and he’s excited to kick onto the next level as he gets ever more familiar with their demands.
It has been an intense introduction to life in the URC and Champions Cup, with Munster in a block of 13 consecutive match weekends right now, but he’s looking forward to doing a bit of travelling in Europe when times allows in 2024. Rome, London, the list goes on.
Everywhere he goes, on and off the pitch, Nankivell carries William with him.
