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Alvin Sallay

Resistance from Super 12 franchises limits coach's options and stacks odds against his team

Gordon Tietjens is not a man used to saying 'I told you so'. The New Zealand coach, who had his hands tied when it came to selecting the squad he needed to defend the World Cup, knows his task now will be to just get on with it and win the tournament with the players he has.

'It just makes us more determined really. I know they will give it their very best,' said Tietjens, outwardly full of confidence in the team captained by impressive forward Liam Messam.

Most coaches would be happy if they had a team who have won the past three IRB Sevens tournaments in George, South Africa, Wellington and Los Angeles, and led the 2004-05 standings by a comfortable 20 points over closest rivals Fiji.

Not Tietjens. He had been planning the World Cup title defence for a long time and had  received  permission from the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to call up one player from each of the country's five Super 12 franchises and one more from the reserve squads.

However, his best-laid plans were dashed when the franchises blatantly ignored his patriotic call to defend the cup and apparently pressured their players to stay home.

The biggest loss was dashing All Blacks winger Joe Rokocoko, who had starred at the 2002 Hong Kong Sevens, before going on to make a name for himself in XVs the way that Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen had done before him.

Fijian-born Rokocoko, who plays for the Blues, was a certainty to come to Hong Kong. But according to Tietjens, he changed his mind at the 11th hour, apparently because he did not want to compromise his All Blacks selection chances in a year when the British and Irish Lions are touring.

Also slipping out of the equation were Crusaders wingers Rico Gear and Caleb Ralph.  They skipped out after taking advantage of a policy reversal by the NZRU which backed away from forcing the Super 12 franchises to honour a perceived agreement.

It left Tietjens with just two franchise players to call up - Highlanders flanker Josh Blackie  and Blues wing Rudi Wulf. Blackie played in the first two tournaments in this season's IRB Sevens in Dubai and George, while  Wulf was part of the sevens squad last year.

'This is the World Cup which only comes around every four years so it's the big one and I'd planned ahead, as a coach does, to use the players that I'd expressed a real interest in,' Tietjens said.

'The concern I have is that those players gave me experience at a World Cup and also added playing depth because outside the top playing seven, the others below are very inexperienced at that level.

'To win the World Cup, you've got to play eight games and you could strike some nasty injuries from game one. You need that cover to win a tournament,' Tietjens said in an interview with the New Zealand Press Association, soon after the storm broke back home  regarding the turnaround by the Super 12 franchises and the NZRU.

But he admitted that it would have been hard to persuade a player to give up the prospect of playing against the Lions and force him to come here for the World Cup.

'Mindful of the Lions tour, a lot of the players are pushing for places in the All Blacks and I don't want to take anyone that doesn't really want to be here in Hong Kong. But having said that, perhaps they were being influenced in some other ways,' Tietjens said.

'In initial discussions with Joe Rokocoko, he was really keen to play in the World Cup and then in the last 24 hours, he expressed an interest not to be considered. That's disappointing and really sad,' said Tietjens. Doubly so, as he had brought Rokocoko to Hong Kong when he was a nobody, and he has gone on to make a name for himself with the All Blacks.

The New Zealand players' association said they had been concerned about the lack of warning given to Super 12 players and the risks their departure might have on their All Blacks fortunes in a year which features the Lions tour at home and an end of season  tour to Europe.

Tietjens maintains that everyone knew six months ago that he planned to call up Super 12 players and that he had had informal discussions with the players.

The NZRU, meanwhile, washed their hands off the issue. Deputy chief executive Steve Tew was quoted as saying he was disappointed that the Super 12 franchises had not released players, adding that a national team competing at a World Cup had priority over Super 12 obligations in the contract of every player.

But that was just lip service. For, as Tietjens has found out, the NZRU did not take the matter any further, leaving it up to the Super 12 bosses to decide who would be made available.

Although unhappy with the way he has been treated, Tietjens, a canny campaigner, will try to use the controversy to his benefit. He will ask his players to use this as motivation and prove the rugby hierarchy back home that they are as good as those big-name players left behind.

Tietjens does not want to go back home and say 'I told you so' to the NZRU. So the next best thing to do is win the Melrose Cup, a challenge that has become harder, but not insurmountable for a class team.

Team: 1. Edwin Cocker, 2. George Naoupu, 3. Tanerau Latimer, 4. Josh Blackie, 5. Amasio Valence, 6. Liam Messam (captain), 7. Tamati Ellison, 8. Tafai Ioasa, 9. Rudi Wulf, 10. Orene Ai'i, 11. Isaia Toeava, 12. Lifeimi Mafi.

WC flashback: 1993 - Cup semi-finals; 1997 - Cup semi-finals; 2001 - Cup champions.

Player to watch: Tamati Ellison.

Numbers: 121,927 registered players (113,075 men, 8,852 women).

Prediction: Cup.

New Zealand

7 Facts

1 Defending World Cup Sevens champions

2 The first country to give women the vote

3 Home to the world's oldest creature, the tuatara, it's been around for 200 million years

4 Experiences some 400 significant earthquakes annually

5 42 per cent of New Zealanders claims to use sex toys to 'spice things up'

6 Has both the eastern-most and southern-most Burger King outlets in the world

7 Gave the world: Russell Crowe



Kiwi about face leaves Titch in lurch