His tracksuit top was zipped up to his chin all evening long and we never caught a glimpse of him in the bottle green, his new colour of choice. Still if there was any spot in the world for him to take the first mini-step on his new journey, this was it.

You couldn't have planned it any more symmetrically.

Waikato is his place, his region. As a youngster Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, about 60 miles from his home town of Tokoroa, was the Thomond Park, or Ravenhill if you will, of this vibrant rugby province.

Youngsters dreamed about running out onto its turf from an early age and if things went well, some of them managed to play an underage cup final or two there, but nothing more. Only the very talented, or the very lucky, played there after that. Boss was one of the former. His size and build marked him out as a scrum-half from an early age and as he worked his way through school at Forest View High, his talent was obvious.

He could not only pass, he could break too and although he was a couple of inches under six feet, he had a natural physicality that always stood out. He could bounce off people twice his size and live to tell the tale.

He won an under-19 World Cup winners medal with the Junior All Blacks back in 1999 alongside Jerry Collins, and while attending Waikato University he worked his way through the ranks of rugby in the province, making his mark with the Waikato NPC team in his early professional years and then earning a Super 12 contract with the Chiefs back in 2002. He made a decent fist of becoming the starting scrum-half in his first couple of years at the top level, fighting manfully for the number nine slot with Rhys Duggan but then Byron Kelleher moved from the Highlanders to the Chiefs in time for the start of the 2004 season and Boss didn't need the wink to go with the nod. He knew his days were numbered.

Not that he was able to leave overnight. Things don't work like that over here, what with central contracting and all that. He left the Chiefs and agreed to sign for Ulster in February of 2005 but he was contracted to the NZRU until the end of the September of that year and the Wellington Hurricanes signed him up as cover for the Super 12 season. He played second fiddle to Piri Weepu at the Cake Tin, although he did manage to make a number of appearances in the Super 12 at fullback, impressing many with the way he took to the position. Still, he was a half-back by trade and that's where he wanted to play his rugby where it was familiar to him.

Today, he's remarkably honest about what his standing was in the scrum-half pecking order of New Zealand rugby. Boss is not the obnoxious type who believed he was the best number nine in the land and no body else had the sense to recognise it; he knew there were others better than him. His attitude wasn't defeatist, just realistic. "I knew I wasn't in the top two, that I was down the order a bit and I was frustrated, " he says, "but it wasn't just that.

I thought I needed a change of scenery and things like that.

Being in the Waikato team and having a couple of seasons of Super 12, I wasn't getting consistent game time and I knew it was time to move on.

I always had it in my mind that at some time I'd like to come over to Ireland give it a go ever since I was a little boy.

The way the season had been going for me in New Zealand, I felt it was a good time for me to come over here and start afresh."

His Irish roots planted the idea in his mind from an early age. It was always a back-up plan, an insurance policy in case things didn't work out at home. His grandmother and her entire family moved to New Zealand from Glenarm, a tiny village in north County Antrim, when she was just seven years of age and he'd always been made aware of where his mother's folks had come from. He knew that a move to Ireland would give him a chance to pull on the green jersey, but he's been surprised by how quickly things have happened for him.

He only made his Ulster debut in early October against Connacht at Ravenhill and at that point in time he was playing second fiddle once more, this time to Kieran Campbell.

Then he got his bit of luck.

Campbell picked up a hand injury back in December and since then he's made his been the starting number nine at Ulster.

"This year I just wanted to concentrate on getting games for Ulster and focusing on that. I didn't expect it (the Ireland thing) to happen this year. When I came I looked at this kind of thing as being a bit of a bonus. Realistically, I thought it would be another year or so before I made a breakthrough. Obviously Kieran Campbell getting injured meant I came through a bit earlier, but I'm very happy with the way things are going, I can't complain at all."

He's been impressive with Ulster since he got his fortuitous opportunity. He likes to take on opposing back-rows and in many ways, he's a typically aggressive northern hemisphere scrum-half, one used to scavenging for ball at an ultra-competitive breakdown area. He's not all that sure himself, though, that his new rugby culture suits his natural game, even though he is enjoying the change.

"It's not as free flowing in terms of half-back play in Europe, " he says, "It's pretty competitive and there's a lot more intensity at ruck time.

It's taken me a little while to adjust but I think I'm getting there now. It's sort of touch and go as to which I prefer.

Both types have their positives but for international rugby, even though I haven't experienced it yet but from my observations, it's a lot more contested at the breakdown as well. So in that sense the rugby in Europe might be good for me."

Before yesterday's game, he hadn't really considered the impact of playing against the land of his birth. In an interview with this paper last year, Freddie Pucciariello, Munster's Argentinean prop who's been capped by Italy, admitted that he decided to retire from the international game after he lined out for the Azzurri against the Pumas, his Pumas, in a test match. The emotion of the whole thing was too much for the player and while the New Zealand temperament isn't exactly as loaded as the Latino version, Boss has allowed himself to think for a moment about what it will be like facing the Haka. "I've done it myself in various age grades and that will be weird but I'm looking forward to it, " he says.

"It's kind of unique I suppose, not too many people have done the Haka and then faced it."

Yesterday he faced it with his colleagues around him.

Shoulder to shoulder and all that. As it will be from now on.

INTERNATIONAL TEST NEW ZEALAND v IRELAND Saturday, Auckland, 8.30am Referee J Kaplan (South Africa) Live, Sky Sports 2, 8.00am