ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Sport
IMMORTALISED
One-eyed Cantabrian Craig Chamberlain has taken his admiration for Crusaders first-five Richie Mo’unga to a somewhat creepy new level.
Ahead of Mo’unga’s 100th match for the franchise tonight, the 56 year-old has commemorated the occasion by erecting a statue of the Crusaders legend in his backyard in the Christchurch suburb of Shirley.
“Behold the greatest first-five of all time” Chamberlain said, revealing the statue to our reporters.
“Richie’s achievements need to be immortalised. Six titles in six years and one of the best ever players to play Super Rugby. What better way to worship his greatness than a permanent statue of him in my backyard.” Chamberlain said, with a rare bit of emotion in his voice.
Chamberlain had spent countless hours carving the statue out of a solid block of marble, spending every waking moment working on his masterpiece.
Mo’unga will bring up the milestone in his hometown of Christchurch against Moana Pasifika tonight, however Chamberlain’s neighbour Susan was less enthusiastic about the giant 10 foot statue. “It’s quite frightening just seeing this large statue of a man over my fence. It looks like something that belongs in Cathedral Square, not in a residential area.
“Even more frightening was him just hammering and chiselling away throughout the night working on it,” said Susan, who had become increasingly concerned with Chamberlain’s behaviour over the years.
As our reporters sought more comment from Chamberlain he was busy opening up a Canterbury Draught and beginning to strike up conversation with the statue of Mo’unga as if it was a real person.
More to come.
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