Sivivatu holding on to All Black dream

By CHRIS RATTUE

Chiefs wing Sitiveni Sivivatu is clinging to his All Blacks dream despite an IRB ruling which forces him out of consideration for New Zealand teams until December next year.

Fiji coach Mac McCallion rates Counties-Manukau's Sivivatu, the only second division player in a New Zealand Super 12 team, a certainty for his World Cup squad, but the 21-year-old says he will turn his back on that opportunity.

Sivivatu was last night considering an appeal to the IRB rather than through the New Zealand Rugby Union, which has assisted him so far.

The IRB announced that under a clause on studying abroad, Sivivatu's time at Wesley College in 2000 and 2001 did not count towards the three-year residency qualification. Sivivatu came to New Zealand on a college scholarship.

He opted not to comment, but is apparently angry with the Fiji Rugby Union for pushing the IRB towards the ruling.

Sivivatu wrote to the FRU in March, stating he would not play for them even if he had to stand down from international consideration for two years.

"He is a devastated and disappointed young man," Sivivatu's manager Laurie Flitten said. "He may have been at school here, but he was making his own decisions ... I can't say if he might change his mind about playing for Fiji."

Sivivatu wants to meet the New Zealand Rugby Players' Association, while the NZRU is unsure if an appeal is possible.

The IRB ruling applies to the All Blacks and New Zealand A, and Sivivatu was also left out of the NZ Colts triallists named yesterday.

Sivivatu, who is expected to move to Waikato if the Steelers remain in the second division, had limited chances with the struggling Chiefs. But he has extreme pace and defensive qualities, making him a brilliant prospect on the wing where New Zealand is lighthanded, although Joe Rokocoko from the Blues has made the bigger impact this season.

FRU chief executive and former national captain Pio Bosco Tikoisuva said: "Our position has always been that if Sitiveni wants to play for New Zealand we wish him all the best.

"But given the acute problems Fiji, Samoa and Tonga face from scholarship-induced player migration, we have no choice but to make certain the rules are upheld.

"The Pacific is losing more than 500 players a year in rugby scholarships. These players represent the very best secondary school players our countries have to offer.

"In these circumstances we are grateful that the IRB has given clarity to a pressing issue."

The IRB panel, headed by South Africa Rugby Union chairman Silas Nkanunu, said: "His presence in NZ [during 2000 and 2001] should be considered as a temporary absence from the parental home in Fiji."