All Black day for Kiwi Pierce

KIWI Scott Pierce proposed at the Hong Kong Sevens and played in the tournament while on honeymoon the following year. But yesterday he found himself in a role he hated - competing against his native New Zealand.

Pierce answered an SOS from Japan to play in their sevens team over the past month and unlucky draws have seen him up against old mate Eric Rush and Co on two occasions.

'You grow up in New Zealand loving the All Blacks jersey and hoping one day to wear it, not to play against guys in it,' said Pierce after Japan's 45-0 loss. 'But if you're going to get hammered I suppose it's better to be by a team you would die for.' Pierce became a celebrity in 1992, during his third appearance, when he did the romantic thing and proposed to his girlfriend Jane.

'It was the first year they had the big scoreboard and I put up a notice asking her to marry me. I love the Sevens and I thought it was the right way,' he said.

'I did not hear anything for hours and then when the announcer was reading the New Zealand team sheet he missed out my name. Right at the end he said 'Scott Pierce' - did a drum roll with his hands - 'the answer is in the affirmative'.

'I was a happy man. And then the next year I was here on honeymoon and Dallas Seymour pulled out injured. I was called up although I didn't want to play.' Pierce has played club rugby in Japan for more than seven years and found himself an accidental Japanese sevens player.

'I helped out at training and when two of the players could not obtain visas for the Brisbane Sevens I was asked to play. And they called me up for this one as well even though I was down to play in the Tens,' he said.

John Crean