The nerves went rampant for Rob Rush in Super Rugby debut

Rob Rush got six minutes' game time for the Blues in his debut match against the Highlanders at Eden Park. Photo / Getty Images

Six minutes on the park was more than enough time for Rob Rush to gauge the intensity of a Super Rugby match and to realise how much more it is for him to learn.

The Northland Taniwha loose forward came off the bench in the 74th minute for his Blues’ debut against the Highlanders at Eden Park on June 2 and admits nerves “were just going rampant” when asked to take the field.

“The contact and the speed are a huge step up from NPC. I only got on in the 74th minute and the game was still going on at 100 miles an hour. Even coming up to the 74th minute, it looked like the game had picked up at pace.

“Super Rugby is like a test match every week. You’re pretty much sprinting the whole time. The takeaway is I’ve got a lot of adapting to do. Six minutes is alright for a debut,” he said.

His primary focus was not to make a mistake and give away a penalty that could be costly in the end. The Blues won 16-9 and went on to beat the Waratahs in the quarter-final last weekend. They face the Crusaders in the semi-final in Christchurch on Friday.

Rush, the son of former All Black and New Zealand Sevens legend Eric Rush, attended Saint Kentigern College in Auckland and lived and played in the Blues region with club stints at East Tamaki, East Coast Bays and Kaeo, as well as Northland. He plays for Mid Northern in the Tyrepower Northland premier club rugby competition.

He said for the whole week leading up to the Highlanders match, the boys at the Blues got behind him and it was only a matter of him getting onto the field and doing what he had to do.

“But I was really nervous. I thought I’d be good because I had been training with them for a while but when I got on, because of the whole crowd situation, my family was there, the nerves were just going rampant, and I was going up against fellas that I used to watch and idolise.

“It was cool because I got to play alongside and against the fellas that I idolised. You’d never think as a normal kid like myself, you never really imagine one day going up against Shannon Frizell and Aaron Smith. It was unreal. These are the people you’ve always looked up to and I am finally playing against them.”

Rob Rush knows he has to put his best foot forward for the Taniwha to play well for the Blues in Super Rugby. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The consequences of giving away a penalty at the Super Rugby level, he said, were serious compared with making mistakes in the NPC or at club competition.

“I had one carry. All the boys were saying ‘Give it to Rushie, give it to Rob’ I was like ‘Yeah, I’ll take it’. I made a couple of tackles. The best part was we won. I won on debut. Not a lot of people get that.”

It’s semi-finals footy time — something Rush has never tasted as a player but said the pressure cooker moments were what teams trained the whole year for.

The history between Blues and Crusaders, he said, would count for nought in knockout games.

“With the calibre of players in both teams, sometimes it just comes down to the bounce of the ball. All odds could probably be against the Blues or the Crusaders but, in the end, it will come down to who is going to capitalise on the key moments.”

Rush looks up to the Northland captain and fellow Blues loose forward Tom Robinson and Akira Ioane as his mentors.

Having Northland players Robinson, Sam Nock, and Ofa Tu’ungafasi helps Rush grow his game. He is immensely proud of his Northland heritage and says players from small towns in Tai Tokerau that have made it to Super Rugby deserve all the plaudits.

He will be back in the Cambridge Blues jumper for the Bunnings Warehouse competition that starts in August.

Taniwha lost to Canterbury in last year’s quarter-finals but Rush is optimistic of the team making the playoffs again this season.

“Every year the comp gets tougher but we’ve managed to keep the majority of the team from last year so I reckon, as long as we back what we’re doing and carry on the belief we had from last year, there’s endless possibilities on what we can do.”

A good outing for Northland will mean Rush getting consistent game time at the Blues.

“As a new boy, you want to see the level you have to get to in order to start getting game time in Super Rugby. When I get on, I need to take the opportunities with both hands.”

He said rugby players learnt something at every age grade or level.”Coming down to Mid Northern, it teaches you that not a lot of people are on the same level as you, and you have to adjust. At the Taniwha, you just need to nail your job, and when it comes to Super Rugby, simple things and basics are what you need to do,” he said.