Karate kid has rugby at heart

SHANE HURNDELL
Most Hawke's Bay rugby fans are confident Magpies hooker Hika Elliot will be named in the All Blacks squad next weekend.
But how many Kelt Capital Magpies fans know Elliot has another international assignment next month? Elliot, 22, has qualified for the world karate championships to be staged in Tokyo.
The 2004 under-19 world champion rugby player qualified during a tournament in Flaxmere last year.
"It was just before the Super 14 teams were named in October. My mates were organising the tournament and they were short of a heavyweight so I filled in.
"I won all four of my fights against blokes who have been around awhile," said Elliot, who is a black belt fighter.
All of Elliot's family are into karate. He took up the martial art when he was four but gave away tournament fighting when he was 16 to focus on his rugby and basketball commitments with his Hastings Boys' High School teams.
"Karate has been good for my rugby, especially the agility," said Elliot played for the Hurricanes and Pacific Nations Cup-winning New Zealand Maori side earlier this year.
However, he intends giving the Tokyo assignment a miss. And that's not because he's confident about being on tour with the All Blacks or on Super 14 duty if he misses out on the ABs.
"My rugby contract doesn't allow me to compete in karate tournaments," said Elliot, who had a 24-hour stint in an extended All Black training squad back in July.
It's no secret a top performance against the star-studded Canterbury pack, former All Black rake Corey Flynn in particular, will enhance Elliot's chances of earning an All Black call-up.
But he doesn't want to think about next weekend.
"I've just got to focus on doing my job ... my core role for the Magpies," said Elliot. "We know if we can play for 80 minutes like we did for the first 40 minutes against Waikato last weekend we're definitely in with a shot."
That's despite the fact Elliot and his fellow Magpies forwards got a mauling from the Cantabs when they last travelled to AMI Stadium three weeks ago.
"We were pretty disappointed we didn't fire a shot last time. We know if we get our set-piece play right, particularly our scrum, our backs can perform," said Elliot.
Like his fellow Magpies forwards Elliot has plenty of respect for the Canterbury pack.
"Their forwards have really good workrates and their work off the ball work is well known. We'll need our A game."
With Magpies captain Danny Lee's retirement already announced and veteran flanker Michael Johnson pondering it, Elliot must be on the short list for the job of Magpies captain.
"If I get the opportunity I'm not going to turn it down. But if somebody else gets it, they will have my full support."
Having a black belt karate exponent for support is definitely beneficial. Elliot will need every bit of his karate nous tonight as the Magpies take on their biggest fight of the season to date.