Food is big on the agenda when Tame Tupou recalls his time at Woodhouse Grove School.

It's hardly surprising. The new Bulls signing didn't reach 6ft 5in and 18st eating lettuce.

The Tongan got his first taste of English life in 2000 when he arrived at the Apperley Bridge school as a 17-year-old exchange student from Auckland.

"I remember the Yorkshire puddings," he smiles. "They were nice and I got into really liking them, you know the big ones that fill the plate? It was the first time I'd ever had them but I loved it."

Tupou's rugby coach at Woodhouse Grove, where he boarded for three months, also recalls the teenager's appetite when they reunited this week.

Roger Howard said: "He used to come around to our house for his dinner and we'd have one of those cooked chickens. We always had to buy at least two though because Tame would have one just to himself!"

Bulls fans seeing the giant winger bump off would-be tacklers against Hull, only his second game since joining from Brisbane Broncos, know Tupou is a big unit now, yet he claims he was "tall and skinny" when he turned out for the school.

Howard remembers differently, saying: "When I first saw him, I was gobsmacked because he was just so big even then.

"I had a smile on my face for the rest of that term. With his first touch of the ball Tame ran in a try from about 70 metres out and we knew we were on to something.

"To have this guy coming in was great. We were beating Leeds Academy and Yorkshire State schools and I'm really proud of him, seeing what he's doing now. He seems to have settled in pretty quickly at the Bulls."

Three tries in just two games suggests the New Zealand Test star has done that - but scoring has never been a problem.

Tupou bagged nine in just seven matches as that school side swept all before them to hint at the personal success that would follow.

With much of the Bulls' training currently based at Woodhouse Grove, the player, now aged 24, is back in familiar territory and those past links he forged have helped him quickly settle again.

Tupou, who presented the school with his New Zealand A shirt, earned when he toured England in 2003, recalls his time there fondly.

He says: "I thought I'd miss home but knowing it was only for a short period of time and that it was a great opportunity, I just took it all in and once I got here I didn't get homesick once.

"There was a lot of great people here and I've kept in touch with many. Everyone was really helpful like Mr Howard and Mr Jones, our rugby senior master.

"It was a great experience and different to anything else I'd known. We had a good year that year, played a few good teams and won them all - although it was cold!"

Howard added: "Tame played with a really good crop of players and it was a very successful period for the school. We went unbeaten for three years, had players who represented England and a few who went on to play professionally.

"Joe Bedford's one. He's just gone to Leeds from Rotherham, while Eniola Gesinde is currently flying with Newcastle Falcons. Martin Bray did go to Newcastle as well, while there's lots of other guys playing good local club rugby like Ben Fear at Otley."

Woodhouse Grove had a mutually beneficial partnership with Wesley College, Tupou's school in Auckland.

Semio Kepu, Jonah Lomu's cousin, was one of the first students to arrive as part of the exchange programme which saw two pupils go the other way each year.

Twelve months before Tupou joined they also had Casey Laulala on their books, a centre who has gone on to star for Canterbury Crusaders and the All Blacks.

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