He helped the province win and retain the famous
Ranfurly Shield, before being lured over to the south west of France by Pau last December.
"I've had an unbelievable time in the game, whether it be with Bay of Plenty in the
Ranfurly Shield or even when we finished up with the Blues with that last semi-final, I thought it was a really good step.
They, by the way, were like a mini-Test XV, the
Ranfurly Shield holders, a truly top side, yet we just played some superb rugby and ran in nine tries - four of them by my Welsh colleague John Bevan.
In which sport would you find the
Ranfurly Shield? Football crazy 15.
Roberts, who is a British passport holder, played his way into the Counties Manukau squad for the
Ranfurly Shield in 2014 but, working full-time as an assistant manager at a travel agents, decided to come to Cov where he could focus more on rugby.
Former Leinster supremo Schmidt cut his coaching teeth assisting Cotter at Bay of Plenty where the pair won the
Ranfurly Shield together in 2004.
WHERE is the
Ranfurly Shield the principal rugby union trophy?
McCaw said a last-gasp
Ranfurly Shield Challenge victory for Canterbury over Wellington in 2001 helped mould his champion attitude.
Tu'ipulotu has twice won New Zealand's
Ranfurly Shield, and enjoyed three largely successful seasons with the Falcons before jetting out to join Yamaha Jubilo this time last year.
He added: "Other highlights were winning three Super rugby titles, the
Ranfurly Shield twice, and the NPC (the National Provincial Championship, in 2004).
The openside flanker has been on the comeback trail since damaging the calf in the New Zealand Maori's Pacific Nations Cup match against Fiji last month and played the full 80 minutes of Auckland's
Ranfurly Shield victory against Poverty Bay on Tuesday.
"It was tough to lose the
Ranfurly Shield (New Zealand rugby's biggest domestic trophy) to Waikato because we were the defending national provincial champions but it just makes me want to work twice as hard not to lose big games like that for Worcester in the Guinness Premiership this season.