Sevens: Blackie not worried about consequences

Josh Blackie

Josh Blackie says the honour of representing New Zealand at a rugby sevens World Cup outweighed the consequences of not completing his Super 12 commitments.

The Otago and Highlanders openside flanker bucked the trend by accepting coach Gordon Tietjens' invitation to play at Hong Kong this weekend.

Blackie and under-used Blues winger Rudi Wulf are the sole Super 12-contracted players in the New Zealand squad, with several others who were approached opting to decline.

Speculation surrounds whether the likes of Joe Rokocoko, Sosene Anesi and Rico Gear did so on their own volition or under pressure from their franchises.

Crusaders winger Gear said the inevitable weight loss needed to be in peak condition for sevens would disrupt his Super 12 form. That could then impact on his chance of All Blacks selection in this year's British and Irish Lions series.

Blackie took time to decide but realised he couldn't turn down the chance to play at the prestigious four-yearly sevens tournament.

"I actually thought about this over Christmas and I decided I'd set my sights on going to a World Cup," he told NZPA.

"Fair enough to the guys who aren't coming, that's the decision they made. They know what their bodies are like.

"I'm not too concerned about my weight. I've played a lot of sevens in the past and I usually put on weight for some reason, not lose it."

Blackie had an All Blacks trial last year but is at best third on the current All Blacks No 7 pecking order, behind Richie McCaw and Marty Holah.

His main goal in rugby is to wear an All Blacks jersey but Blackie believed his participation at Hong Kong, which rules him out of two rounds of Super 12, would not prove detrimental.

He will fly straight to Hong Kong after the tournament finishes on Sunday to join his Highlanders teammates in South Africa ahead of their fifth round match against the Cats.

Blackie has played in 10 sevens tournament for New Zealand, more than half of those in 2002.

He didn't think the fitness requirements were radically different from the 15-a-side game.

"With 15s you get fatigued through contact, you do a lot of cleaning out rucks and making tackles.

"In sevens you do a lot of running and chasing and getting into position but you've still got a rugby ball and you've still got to score tries. You have to run a bit more and push yourself a bit harder I guess.

"I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of tackling and trying to win a bit of ball for the backs."

Tietjens said Blackie was superb in his last sevens tournament, at Dubai in December and said his ball-winning skills would be invaluable as New Zealand looked to play a game based on possession rather than pace.

The New Zealand team completed their first rugged physical blowout in Hong Kong yesterday.

After arriving on Sunday night and doing some light training on Monday, the tough Tietjens training regime returned yesterday and was to continue today before a rest day on the eve of the tournament tomorrow.

New Zealand play their first pool games against Korea, Ireland and Tonga on Friday, with further pool matches against the United States and Scotland on Saturday followed by the quarterfinals onwards on Sunday.

- NZPA