Rugby: Games medal buried in undies drawer

Sevens rugby legend Eric Rush has a confession to make.

If he led his side to gold at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, his medal would not take pride of place on his mantelpiece or be locked in a trophy cabinet.

It would likely end up in his underwear drawer, pushed to the back beside the Commonwealth Games gold medal he won at Kuala Lumpur four years ago.

Despite protestations and his best attempts to change her mind, Rush's wife Raina won't let him show off his Games medal in public.

"It will be nice to have matching gold medals if we do the business in Manchester, but they won't get to see the light of day in my [Auckland] house, mate," Rush joked.

"It'll end up in my undies drawer, which is where my gold medal from Kuala Lumpur has lived for the past four years.

"The wife's dead against me putting up anything like that - she thinks it is showing off - so I haven't even been able to hang any rugby photos around the house.

"I was going to make a little area in the garage to hang things like my Commonwealth Games medal.

"Just when I got around to clearing some space and organising it, the brother-in-law moved into my garage."

Rush joined New Zealand's 12-strong sevens squad at Mt Maunganui on Sunday at the start of a four-day training camp before leaving for Manchester on Friday.

A qualified lawyer, Rush has been a fixture in the New Zealand sevens team for 16 years, but the player considered the best sevens exponent the world has seen wasn't guaranteed a ticket to Manchester.

Rush was nervous when he arrived at Mt Maunganui 10 days ago for a five-day trial.

"Titch [coach Gordon Tietjens] wouldn't talk to me when I turned up at the trial, which was his way of showing me I had to get out and earn a place.

"I was tense - everyone was - because we were back to square one, but I honestly wasn't too worried if I didn't get back in.

"I felt at the end of the trial that I'd done my job better than anyone else in my position."

Rush proved his worth, although his close friend and Kuala Lumpur comrade Dallas Seymour missed out.

"Dallas is disappointed and it's tough on him, but he's the first to admit he didn't play as well as he could have.

"He played only two [sevens] tournaments and it was always going to be hard for the boys who hadn't been playing much."

Rush, 37, has had a disrupted season. After a remarkable run during his sevens and XVs career, he was hit with a triple whammy of injuries, starting with a broken leg at last year's World Cup.

Then it was a popped shoulder at Hong Kong, followed by a broken hand that put him out of a couple of tournaments in Asia.

There will be no Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen or Caleb Ralph to boost New Zealand's medal bid in Manchester, but Rush isn't fazed.

"There's as much talent in this team here as there was in Kuala Lumpur and we're probably stronger in other areas. There's four good forwards and some real scramblers in the side.

"I'm sensing a lot of excitement in the team and, once we get these days of training out of the way, we're there.

"It is only a select group of rugby players that gets to compete in a Commonwealth Games.

"Although we've got a job to do, I'm going to be encouraging the new guys who haven't been before to get out and soak up the atmosphere and take in as much as they can."

After three World Cups, 15 Hong Kong tournaments and 300-odd games for New Zealand, is there anything left for the man they call Koro?

"I'm not sure at the moment. I'm a season-by season prospect.

"I'll have to sit down and talk to the wife and Titch after the season ends to get a better idea of what's ahead for me."

Rush has already talked to Tietjens about taking over the coaching reins in the not too distant future.

"There's not a lot of good sevens coaches around so that's one avenue I'll be looking closely at."

- NZPA

Full coverage:
nzherald.co.nz/manchester2002

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