The professional rugby player will see you now.
Crusaders, Otago, and three-capped All Black No 8 Christian Lio-Willie grits his teeth when the pressure mounts, fighting tooth and nail to give his teams and fans something to smile about.
But he also has a highly-skilled role off the field, which could still come into play on it, if perhaps a player loses a tooth in contact.
A qualified dentist since 2021, Christian spent time as a locum at Emmaus Dental practices in Richmond and Motueka last week, maximising this opportunity he was given by its “friendly” and “supportive” staff during his off-season.
While he mostly brushed past any fandom, he joked that his patients were more afraid of the dentist when they walked in, thinking “you’re a huge dentist”, and when they later learned he played rugby professionally.
“It’s been good to fly low a bit,” he smiles.
“It’s been really busy, but it has been great… everyone is so supportive, and it seems like a great place to work. It’s a different type of pressure in the dentist chair, it’s all on you. But I guess it is similar to on the rugby field, but you’ve got to apply that pressure, and I love it.”
Christian says his week in Tasman included cutting his teeth in exploring the local area beyond Trafalgar Park, a central Nelson Woolworths and Tides Hotel, which he’s previously sampled on visits with Otago for NPC clashes with the Mako.
“I haven’t really been to Kaiteriteri and Golden Bay, and myself and my fiancée have been able to do that while being here,” he enthuses.
“All the [Tasman Mako] boys in the Crusaders, like David Havili, Mitch Drummond, Ethan Blackadder, have been saying, ‘go to these spots, you’re going to love Nelson’ - and Nelson is beautiful.”
Christian names Ethan as the one who has the shiniest gnashers in his rugby circles, and says he often offloads oral care advice to his teammates to fend off their cavities.
“There are a few boys that definitely need some dental advice,” he laughs.
“The boys do ask me a lot, even just about how much Powerade they should drink and how they drink it.
“I try to limit it as much as possible, because some people pay hundreds of dollars for a consultation and [the team is] getting it for free. But I’m obviously happy to share knowledge, and that’s why I [became a dentist], to help people out.”
While he’s living his rugby dream, which includes two Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders and earning his first All Black cap in the city where he studied and kick-started his professional rugby, dentistry was numero uno.
“That was made pretty important by mum… and it was mum that made me stay through uni and get the degree done and out the way, so that if I didn’t get to where I wanted in rugby, then I had something to fall back on,” he reflects.
“I had a look into [dentistry], and I knew that my passion was something to do with health… and another big thing was the need for the Pacific and Māori communities.
“There was not much awareness around that field at all, and the number of Pacific Island dentists in New Zealand was really low as well. So, I thought, ‘give it a stab and see how it goes’… and I never looked back.”
Some fitness drills at an All Blacks camp in Auckland had scheduled to polish off Christian’s week, before returning to his Christchurch residence for Crusaders training ahead of their 2026 campaign.
However, the camp was cancelled following head coach Scott Robertson’s dismissal on 15 January.
