Rugby: Thomson makes all the right calls

By Wynne Gray

Situations vacant columns had a steady supply of Auckland rugby jobs this season. There was a coach for the NPC and then a captain, too, after Robin Brooke kept his All Black work.

As names were discussed for skipper the choices seemed to fall between two groups. Pick someone like the experienced Michael Jones or Mark Carter, who had been there before or Xavier Rush or Charles Riechelmann from those who were being groomed as leaders.

That was the theory, anyway.

But new coach Wayne Pivac and his assistant Grant Fox did some careful thinking, made their assessments and picked on Paul Thomson, the massive 24-year-old prop, as the latest captain.

They felt a few constraints. It was pointless, they reasoned to pick someone who would be whisked away on World Cup duty but the choice had to be an automatic selection in the team. He had to inspire and be respected after the slide in Auckland rugby in the last couple of seasons.

When Thomson got the call he felt awkward. He was young, he had missed all of last year after neck surgery and had injury troubles again this year in Super 12. He thought about turning down the offer.

"I wondered how a guy of 24 could do the job when I had the likes of Michael Jones and Eroni Clarke in the team," he recalled. "They were players I looked up to but they have helped me more than anyone. But being given all that responsibility was quite daunting."

Now after five NPC games in charge, Thomson is warming to the task. The team had a good start with four straight wins but the solitary point loss to Canterbury has increased the pressure for today's match with co-leaders Otago at Carisbrook.

"We have been preaching the Auckland culture all week, which is all about getting it back on track and saying we might have lost but we don't do that twice in a row.

"This will be a very difficult game because Otago have Duncan Blaikie and Isitolo Maka back, they have not lost and have got a disease called winning."

After growing up in the eastern Bay of Plenty, Thomson moved to the city where he captained the Auckland Grammar Ist XV in 1993, the Auckland Colts and now the A team. Why was he chosen for that job?

"Oh, I guess I'm younger and better-looking,"Thomson quipped, showing instantly the humour and easy rapport which helped in the decision.

Thomson is a people-person, someone who relates to a wide cross section of society.

And he can play. Trimmed down now to 122kgs, the 1.93m Thomson would be the largest prop in the country but with an athleticism and skills some backs would envy.

Very tall for a prop, Thomson admires another tall Auckland prop - Craig Dowd - for the quality of his total rugby. He would like to cover both sides of the scrum like Dowd.

Thomson started as tighthead last week against Canterbury but a bruised shoulder and Scott Palmer's steady work saw him swap back to his regular loosehead position.

But for the loss of 1998 through neck surgery and a few other niggles in Super 12, that sort of versatility might have had Thomson boarding the plane next week for the World Cup.

Instead, the year off gave him time to reassess what rugby meant to him and the rest of New Zealand.

"Sometimes as players you do not realise how big rugby is," said Thomson.

"You just go to train and play games, but when you are out there in the crowds, in the carparks, talking to sponsors, officials and the public you realise what a big deal it has become."

As Auckland captain, Thomson wants to make his side more aware of that atmosphere.

"It is a great honour to captain this side and they are easy to lead because anyone of six or eight people could have done it.

"I don't see myself as a Sean Fitzpatrick or Zinzan Brooke-type leader, more as a facilitator, someone who helps them lead themselves.

"Zinny could go out and practice box-kicks with the halfbacks and beat them most of the time and while I might win a kicking competition, too, I would not go out there and want to teach them.

"I want to make sure the feeling is right, they are going along the right path and know what is going on."

While Thomson accepts a captain may have to withdraw slightly from his team, he does not want to be aloof.

"I think we all need to move together more than we have been, he said. "It is just I have to be self-disciplined all the time."