Rugby: All Black replay for man with the tapes

By CHRIS RATTUE

Peter Thorburn says his recent life as a rugby commentator will not provide any hurdles in his second-coming as an All Blacks selector. The 60-year-old Thorburn was yesterday named as the third selector for two years, alongside coach Wayne Smith and assistant Tony Gilbert.

Thorburn, the highly successful foundation coach of North Harbour, was a selector alongside coach Laurie Mains and Earle Kirton in 1992 and 1993, before being dumped for Lin Colling.

The former national sevens coach has been a prominent media voice in recent years but said he steered clear of criticising players.

"I don't think I've ever criticised a player publicly," said Thorburn.

"I may have criticised a particular performance but that's as far as I've gone.

"In my opinion, you don't criticise publicly because the players haven't got the right of reply."

Any criticisms he had made had been more about structures. For instance, he had pointed to a lack of cohesion and continuity of phases in the All Blacks.

"Even as a comments person, I still thought of myself as a coach. As a coach you don't criticise in public because once you lose a player's trust you never get it back.

"Whenever you say something about a player it will always get back to them."

Smith used Thorburn, a keen user of videos, as an adviser when he was assistant and then technical adviser to departed All Black coach John Hart.

Thorburn leapt at the chance to return as a selector when Smith approached him before Christmas.

"I jumped at the chance and without sounding arrogant, I believe I'm ideally placed," said Thorburn, who was the first Super 12 commissioner, and returned to coach North Harbour in 1997.

"Apart from coaching the All Blacks, I've done just about everything else in rugby and I'm sure I'm a better selector now.

"I've always been much better at analysing things from video rather than while at a game -- as a former loose forward I follow the ball too much."

The All Blacks won 11 of 16 tests in those early Mains years, a not always smooth period -- they were almost embarrassed by Ireland, suffered a record loss in Sydney, and a defeat at Twickenham.

There was an experimental feel to the period which led to the formation of the side which played so well at the 1995 World Cup, and subsequently Hart's side which achieved New Zealand's first series win in South Africa. The lateral thinking during Thorburn's first selection time led to such experiments as moving Marc Ellis to first five-eighths, and the brief dropping of Zinzan Brooke.

Thorburn moved from the North Shore to Omaha Beach a couple of years ago where he lives with his second wife, Sarnia. His first wife died in 1991.

Thorburn, who owns and breeds racehorses, is retired after selling the pharmaceutical company he built from scratch with a partner 25 years ago. But those retirement years will soon be filled with trying to turn All Black rugby around again. "Some people say I'm too old but it is how you think that counts," he said.

"With the number of games and analysis going on these days I don't think it is possible for one team to totally dominate for a long period.

"But we've got to draw the leadership abilities out of our players.

"It is a little bit difficult in this country because we are not a race of leaders.

"You can't put all the responsibilities on the captain. There was too much left to Taine Randell. You saw with Australia that they had about six players who had leadership roles and we've really got to develop ownership in our teams."