There was once a time when Mako Vunipola, growing up in Wellington, dreamed of pulling on an All Blacks jumper.
The loosehead idolised Jonah Lomu, also of Tongan descent, and used to run about pretending to be the superstar winger - father and former Test hooker Fe'ao, meanwhile, used to call him the next Olo Brown.
But that all changed when Fe'ao and his sons, Mako and Billy, ended up in Wales in 1998 - with the black jumper duly fading into the background.
Now, the 26-year-old is preparing to lock horns against the country of his birth for the British and Irish Lions in Saturday's do-or-die second Test.
"I loved them, mostly because of Jonah Lomu - him being of Tongan heritage, I always wanted to be like him and being born in Wellington as well, I had a lot of family over here," the English prop told reporters on Friday.
"This is the first time I've been back since I was a child."
The Saracens-based Vunipola, who progressed through the English youth system and decided to play for the Red Rose instead of Wales, made 12 tackles and was solid in the scrum in last week's 30-15 first-Test defeat in Auckland.
He said the Warren Gatland-coached side would need a far better performance to keep the series alive in the New Zealand capital.
He also admitted to an unfortunate grab of opposing tighthead Owen Franks' nether regions in a first-half scrum, caught on tape and circulated online.
"I was just trying to get my bind up," Vunipola said with a wry smile.
"We talk always as a front row about giving good pictures to the referee, and either I bind there or I drop my arm and it's a penalty.
"I'd rather grab them than nothing, really."
