Rugby: Veteran captain Rush placed in the frame as next coach

By CHRIS RATTUE

Rugby sevens' Achilles heel was exposed in Manchester yesterday as New Zealand retained their Games title in the final against Fiji.

It was a fine performance from a rebuilt New Zealand side, who were undefeated in the tournament and eventually crushed their long-standing rivals 33-15 in the 20-minute final.

It also meant that the last anthem played at the City of Manchester Stadium during these Games was New Zealand's.

The New Zealand team stripped to the waist and performed a victory haka in front of one of the stands at fulltime, and legendary captain Eric Rush immediately suggested that talk of his retirement should be postponed.

Rush had missed the final after suffering an upper-rib injury caused by Brian Lima's head in the 31-12 semifinal win over Samoa

Coach Gordon Tietjens wants Rush to succeed him as coach. Unfortunately, the final was effectively over with eight minutes remaining, and New Zealand leading 14-12, when Australian referee Stuart Dickinson sent off Saisi Fuli for a late hit on Brad Fleming.

New Zealand looked the side most likely to win anyway, but Dickinson might just as well have reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold medal for New Zealand instead of the red card for Fuli.

At this level, against a side as well prepared and talented as New Zealand, six versus seven for nearly half the match spells defeat.

Fuli probably deserved to go. The tackle was very late and from behind, hitting Fleming in the lower back and leaving him in pain on the ground.

It was a tackle that could cause serious injury, especially as the player in Fleming's position is unprepared to receive it.

Fortunately for rugby's sake, it did not lead to the sort of ugly incidents that have marred the world circuit this year.

Teams and referees were told by the IRB before the tournament there should be "zero tolerance" - whatever that means - of such incidents.

Behind that instruction lies the IRB's hope to get rugby into the Olympics.

It is tempting to suggest that sevens could introduce a basketball-type system whereby players are fouled out of games and replaced, to keep the contest going.

Then again, that might tempt players into more rash acts because they know their team's chances will not be hurt as badly.

It is a problem for rugby sevens at this level.

The Olympic Games organisers might baulk at including a sport where players are sent off, and contests ruined.

For those at the ground, the match had a confusing end.

Rugby often has trouble keeping spectators informed of the correct match timing, and the ground clock hit zero three minutes before the match ended.

By then, however, New Zealand had the gold medal won.

There was even more bad news for Fiji, with Jope Tuikabe sinbinned close to fulltime.

Had this occurred earlier, a big final would have turned into a farce.

Rush said of Fuli's earlier dismissal: "It probably spoiled a good game ... it was a little bit harsh on him.

"It was not malicious, just a bit of a bad misjudgment and it ended up costing his team big time."

Only in England would a rugby match be preceded by a crowd singing Que Sera Sera and it was in keeping with the festival nature of sevens.

But the game is hardly festival-like, and has become highly confrontational, with some crunching tackling.

Fiji took a 15-14 lead just after Fuli's sending-off when captain Waisale Serevi kicked a penalty.

But New Zealand rattled on tries to Craig de Goldi, Bruce Reihana and Roger Randle to cruise to victory.

Serevi, like Rush a sevens legend, tried to cajole an impossible victory out of his side, but even his considerable bag of tricks was not big enough, and he has lost the pace which made him such a danger.

On the sending off, Serevi said: "I thought that only a yellow card was necessary.

"It was slippery and he didn't have any choice but to hit him.

"I won silver in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur. I came to these Games to win the gold medal for Fiji."

Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Rush will discuss his future with his wife.

"I'm not definitely retiring. With one of these things hanging around your neck you get a bit emotional.

"I've been away 150 days this year, but it is hard to give the game away. I still feel I'm doing my part out there."

For Tietjens it was another feather in a coaching cap which includes three World Series titles, a World Cup and another Games gold medal, four years ago in Kuala Lumpur.

He said afterwards that he would call it quits next year to chase a Super 12 job, a move which he hoped would coincide with Rush's retirement. He wanted to hand over the coaching reins to Rush.

"It's a realistic chance. Rushy's 37 now. He's just got huge knowledge.

"We've been together for a long time now, since 1994.

"That's almost nine years, which these days is a long tenure for a coach.

In the match for the bronze medal, South Africa beat Samoa in a tightly-fought contest, 19-12.

Full coverage:
nzherald.co.nz/manchester2002

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