Super Rugby: Robbie Fruean’s Heart of Gold
Rugby News Exclusive by Brendan Bradford –
Robbie Fruean and Dylan Groom.
One’s the rampaging 105kg Chiefs centre who strikes fear into the hearts of opposition defences. And the other one? Well, the other one is Dylan Groom.
At a glance, there are no similarities.
Dylan’s a soccer loving, six-foot plus, fitness freak and Fruean’s a stocky, Samoan Super Rugby powerhouse. They’re polar opposites but are linked by inspirational stories of hope and resolve. The unlikeliness of the bond they share is only outdone by the odds they’ve beaten.
One of the most damaging runners in New Zealand rugby since Jonah Lomu, Robbie developed serious heart complications after contracting rheumatic fever as a teenager and in 2008 had open-heart surgery to replace a valve in his own heart with a pig’s. “I do tend to enjoy my baco