Kiwi rugby guru explains how Chinese can get a kick out of game

CAN kung fu and rugby union mix? Bill Freeman, widely regarded as the world's most ex perienced rugby coach, believes that it can and advocates Chinese players use martial arts to progress in a sport that is still alien and only played for kicks.

Freeman, the former (and first) coaching director of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, is a staunch believer in the old maxim that a team - or for that matter country - should play to its strengths.

'Are the Chinese good at martial arts? Yes, they are. One of the components of martial arts is putting the opponent to the ground. If you use that technique and take it a step further, and instead of putting the man to the ground transfer the focus to the ball, then you have a situation where you can get the ball away from your opponent,' says Freeman.

This novel, if not startling, approach to rugby, is par for the course for the former Wellington fly-half and coach, who is currently in town as a guest of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union's (HKRFU) mini-rugby section to advise on its development and also impart some knowledge on the philosophy of coaching to other sections like the colts, schools and ladies.

The man who still holds the proud record of being the only provincial coach in New Zealand to engineer wins against the Springboks (23-6 in 1965) and the Lions (26-3 in 1966) was full of ideas as to how the game should be taken to the Chinese.

With an encyclopedia store of knowledge, Freeman's discourse to Sunday Post would fill volumes. But the main topic of interest centred around how the game should be developed here.

'The Chinese strength lies in running with the ball. Emphasis should be placed on the running and less on the physical side . . . keeping the ball as a moving target. Rugby can be a physical sport only if you don't use the ball as a moving target,' he says.