Nepo Laulala, who boasts a notable record as a 53-cap All Black and two-time World Cup participant, arrived at Gloucester earlier this year with an already formidable reputation.

But the respect the powerhouse prop’s team-mates had for him reached new heights when he took on the club’s infamous pre-season challenge.

Before their debut season, new recruits at Kingsholm face the challenge of consuming eight pints of milk. The task is straightforward: drink it all within 20 minutes without vomiting. Should a player throw up, they face an immediate head shave.

Completing this challenge is considered nearly impossible. Until Laulala’s attempt, only Australian flanker Jordy Reid in Gloucester’s history had succeeded, leaving his new teammates both surprised and impressed.

‘It was tough, but during my time at Wesley College, we just loved milk,’ Laulala, standing 6ft tall and weighing nearly 21 stone, recalls. ‘Everything was fine until I noticed the others starting to get sick!’

Perhaps Wesley College’s milk tradition holds some truth. Located on the outskirts of Auckland, this esteemed institution has produced many All Blacks legends, such as Sitiveni Sivivatu, Tupou Vaa’i, Stephen Donald, Charles Piutau, and Jonah Lomu, not to mention France’s powerhouse prop Uini Atonio.

Despite Laulala’s international status and undoubted quality, the 33-year-old’s arrival in English club rugby has gone largely under the radar. He has had a tough 18 months.

After playing the final 14 minutes off the bench in his country’s World Cup final loss to South Africa in 2023, he left New Zealand rugby behind to sign for French and European giants Toulouse. It was a dream move for Laulala, despite it ending his Test career due to the All Blacks’ rules on where their players can play.

Laulala was joining arguably the best club side on the planet and earning a salary that would set him and his family up for life. Then, during a training session just a matter of months into his new chapter, his achilles popped.

So serious was the problem that after months of rehabilitation and treatment, French doctors deemed him medically unfit to play rugby ever again. His Toulouse contract was promptly torn up, leaving Laulala not only still injured, but without job security. His wife Loriana and three children were forced to move back home to New Zealand after only just relocating to France.

‘It wasn’t a very pleasant experience,’ Laulala says. He chooses his words carefully and is softly spoken, and it is clear how much the episode hurt him.

Unable to play on in France, Laulala continued his recovery with Gloucester through the back end of last season and then took up a full playing contract. His debut finally came last weekend, in the cauldron of a West Country derby at reigning champions Bath – his first game for 19 months.

‘My rehab has gone really well. The physios and everyone at Gloucester have been really good. They know what they’re doing,’ Laulala adds. ‘Toulouse was a big move for me and my family. It was good money. I needed to try and set up my family for after I’m not playing rugby. But then I got injured.

‘The rehab system at Toulouse wasn’t very good and I couldn’t get back to myself. It took longer and longer and I had more problems. But I’m just grateful to be here now and I’m glad Gloucester picked me up.

‘I lost my contract, so I’m just trying to catch up. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pick up another job in rugby.’

French medical rules are stringent. But a player being ruled out of playing rugby in their country doesn’t necessarily mean they cannot play elsewhere. France centre Virimi Vakatawa retired from rugby after suffering a heart issue with Racing 92, only to then sign with Bristol. He spent a season with the Bears before heading to Fiji, where he is still playing.

‘It’s been a long road trying to come back,’ says Laulala. ‘I was starting to get into the older age group with the All Blacks. I wanted to try to get a good contract to finish off my career and have a good life experience in a different culture. They love you when you’re playing in France, but once you’re injured it’s pretty hard to come back and you’re pretty much done.

‘I hope I can add something to this jersey. This club obviously means a lot to the people of Gloucester. There is so much passion. It’s the same in New Zealand. Sometimes, we take the rugby at home for granted.

‘I’d not really heard of Gloucester. I only ever heard of Bath and Harlequins! I knew Harlequins is close to Twickenham because we’d trained there with New Zealand. Todd Blackadder was a coach of mine in New Zealand and he went to Bath. It wasn’t until I got here that I saw a few other New Zealanders had been at Gloucester.’

Laulala, whose brother Casey is another former All Black and played for Cardiff, has now settled in Cheltenham. His family is still in New Zealand and he misses them dearly.

Laulala hopes to get everyone back together again soon. In the meantime, he spends his time away from rugby in the gym and at church. Walks in the Gloucestershire countryside are also a new favourite pastime.

Gloucester have had a tough start to the new season. They have been beset by injury and lost all three of their opening PREM games, including being blown away by Bath and losing a nail-biter late on against Northampton.

Director of rugby George Skivington has sensibly eased Laulala back into action, but the hope is he will get better with time after playing the first half of the Bath game.

‘He’s been great,’ said Skivington. ‘He’s obviously vastly experienced. He just goes about his business and takes it very seriously. He’s been great around the building. For our young props, someone like Afo Fasogbon, it’s been great to be around a 50-cap All Black with all that experience. Hopefully, we can get the best out of him and get him back to somewhere near where he was previously.

‘There’s a lot of work to be done. Hopefully, him getting back playing will just be a starting point for him. He’s definitely hungry and it’s obviously been a rough period for him with the exit from France. We took him in and looked after him.

‘He’s the sort of bloke who is really appreciative of that. I think at one point, he thought rugby might be done for him. This is a second chance. It’s really nice when a player is grateful for what the club has done for them. Hopefully, the way we get paid back is through his rugby.’