Ban on Sivivatu angers manager

By CHRIS RATTUE

Sitiveni Sivivatu's manager has called on the International Rugby Board to overhaul the "very unfair" regulation which will keep the powerful wing out of All Black contention this season.

The IRB confirmed at the weekend that Sivivatu, born and raised in Fiji, cannot play for the All Blacks this year.

A three-person IRB regulation committee, whose members were not identified, turned down Sivivatu's appeal, which was supported by the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Under a student clause, the IRB reconfirmed that Sivivatu's time at Wesley College in 2000 and 2001 did not count towards the 36-month residency requirement.

The IRB regards attending school or university in another country as a temporary absence from a player's permanent home.

Sivivatu will still play for the Possibles in tomorrow night's trial at Eden Park.

But the All Blacks have been robbed of a wing alternative should Doug Howlett or the injury-troubled Joe Rokocoko fall short. And coach Graham Henry will be unable to blood the 22-year-old Chiefs wing this season should he wish.

Sivivatu's manager, Laurie Flitten, was "extremely disappointed" and hit out at Fijian rugby for showing "no interest" in Sivivatu when he lived in Fiji, and then making every effort to hinder his All Black dreams by protesting to the IRB last year.

Flitten said Sivivatu had been grilled by an independent lawyer early last year, when signing his first Super 12 contract, to satisfy the NZFRU he wanted to be an All Black.

"I was extremely angry and emotional at first ... Now I've calmed down and I'm left very frustrated about it," said Flitten about the latest IRB decision. "I think the rule needs revisiting ... They need to consider a player's age.

"The IRB says he hasn't broken his links with Fiji, but he never will. What young man breaks his family links?

"Here is a young man who is talented enough, knows who he wants to play for, but is denied by an unfair ruling ...

"Siti has been punished for going to school at 18. He could have come here on a work permit and he'd be eligible now.

"Fiji had an opportunity to secure him before he came to Wesley College ... They declined his family's approach. He played for a Fijian soccer team instead. It was Wesley who spotted the talent ...

"Rugby is a profession. Coaches and some players seem to flick from country to country. Wayne Pivac coached Auckland last year and now he's with Fiji.

"Martin and John Leslie played all those years for Wellington and Otago but because they never achieved higher honours flew to Scotland and represented them two weeks later. Yet Siti has to live here nearly five years.

"How long is a temporary absence? He was as financially independent of his parents as any other 18-year-old. He only went back to Fiji three times in three years. This doesn't make sense."

A brilliant trial performance will spotlight Sivivatu's case. He can play for the All Blacks from December 11, the third anniversary of his leaving Wesley College.

Last year he emphatically turned down World Cup selection for Fiji. He can play for the new Pacific Islanders team without harming his All Black credentials.

Sivivatu said: "The decision is disappointing but I have really enjoyed my time at the trial camp and learned a lot."