Suva's envoy pleads to keep rugby man

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Fiji has made a diplomatic plea to be allowed to keep the New Zealand trainer of the national rugby side until after the World Cup.

For the past two years Geoff Fairhurst has been on unpaid leave from his job as a civilian trainer with the New Zealand police.

But the leave expires on July 12, when he has to return to police work in Auckland. In rugby-mad Fiji, Mr Fairhurst's work is seen as pivotal to the country's success in the upcoming World Cup.

So highly is Mr Fairhurst valued that Fiji's High Commissioner to New Zealand, Bal Ram, has formally urged NZ Police Commissioner Rob Robinson to let the trainer stay on until after the World Cup in October and November.

"Rugby is such an important game for Fiji," Mr Ram said, "and we would not like our preparation to be affected at this late stage."

Mr Fairhurst, who has been with the police for 16 years, said he had known he would not be able to have more than two years' leave.

"I am 50 years old and if I don't take the job on July 12, I have to resign and then post-World Cup what do I do? I'd be a 50-year-old trainer who hasn't got a job."

He would also not be entitled to his full police pension.

Told of the Fijian High Commissioner's request, he said: "I would be absolutely pleased to stay part of the team, and to attend the World Cup would be marvellous. But I don't want to jeopardise the reality of things."

Jon Neilson, a spokesman for the Police Commissioner, said any extension to the maximum of two years' unpaid leave would have to be approved by the general manager of human resources.