Just four months after being on the outer with the Hurricanes, Peter Umaga-Jensen is now on the verge of the All Blacks squad.
This week, the 22-year-old had the opportunity to train with the national team to cap off a remarkable rise in 2020, where he believes he's finally begun to fulfill his potential.
"It was pretty cool," Umaga-Jensen says of his time with the squad. "Pretty unreal just to be in there."
Umaga-Jensen's turning point came after some soul-searching during lockdown.
"I kind of just said to myself… if I really want it, I've got to train hard and I've got to show the coaches that I want to be here'," he says.
Add to that mix, a determination to realise the potential he showed at high school, when he was one of the nation's stand-out secondary school players.
"I'm just trying to actually be the player I want to be and be the player that this team and other teams want me to be," he adds.
Umaga-Jensen finally got his chance for the Hurricanes in round four and hasn't looked back, producing the kind of form that caught the attention of the national selectors.
"He beat some very good defenders," says All Blacks coach Ian Foster. "I think Jack [Goodhue] and [Anton Lienert-Brown] both found him a handful."
He's also been a handful in the Mitre 10 Cup, which is Umaga-Jensen's immediate focus.
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