THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE TRM EXCLUSIVE!

Well, almost certainly the most unusual celebrity interview for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

But first, we should reveal to you another famous anonymous (?) guest in 2023. I almost missed him.

One evening a couple of months ago we received a phone call from a prospective guest traveling from Auckland to Wellington. He had left his run a bit late and needed a break to catch up on his sleep. I took his name and phone number – which meant nothing at the time as the reception was too poor for me to hear his name perfectly, but just so we had his phone number as a security reference. I advised him that Unit 1 would be left open, the key inside, heater on, lights on, milk in the fridge, etc. He arrived just before I was retiring and came into the reception office to pay as he advised he was intending to leave early the next day.

As soon as he walked in at a glance I knew I recognised him. I might forget the odd name but usually remember a face. My immediate assumption was that he must have stayed here often before. I welcomed him back but he politely smiled and advised he had never stayed here before. Strange… But I even admitted I was familiar with his face so well and he could not fool me. I suggested he must be a Tongariro fisherman. Negative he replied, he had never been trout fishing. But I was convinced I knew him so well…

Then I devised a cunning plan. Feeling more than a bit embarrassed at assuming he was so well known at TRM and he looked so relaxed and familiar, I asked him to fill in the registration card with personal details – name, address, etc. He was totally relaxed and pleasant, smiling away, as he knew he had me completely fooled. As soon as he left the reception I took his card and googled his name – motel operators have to be very sneaky…

Ashley Bloomfield. Of course… See, I knew I was right all along, I’m not so stupid after all, I had recognised his face as I had watched him in awe on TV almost every night for the previous Covid year. Oh dear! SWMBO caned me. At least I had his autograph.

For our overseas readers, in the 2023 New Year Honours, Bloomfield was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to public health.

After featuring as the Covid spokesperson on prime time TV for the previous year, Health reporter Tess Nichol, writing for the American online magazine Slate, described him as “New Zealand’s current obsession, an unlikely heartthrob, a mild-mannered health care hero”. aka SWMBO’s hero…

And I decided he must have qualified as a fishy inmate!

TRM have enjoyed hosting many celebrities as guests over the last sixty years, mainly attracted here to escape the stress and attention, to fish the mighty Tongariro River. It is easy to hide in anonymity, to relax as once they have donned waders and wading jackets and hats and sunglasses and face scarves they are quite unrecognisable. They all look like terrorists.

Four years ago back in 2019 the French Rugby team manager, Raphael Ibanez, graduated to become another anonymous celebrity inmate at TRM. Note his TRM hat!

Rugby World Cup 2023 will be the 10th time the game’s global showpiece has been staged and the second time it will be held in France in its entirety. It kicks off in Paris on Sept. 8 when the tournament hosts face New Zealand at Stade de France in Paris.

The following is our exclusive interview in 2019, now perfectly timed before the All Blacks face off against France.