All Blacks: Franks silences the taunters

Owen Franks packs down during training. Photo / Getty Images

Schoolmates who laughed at Owen Franks' physique at Christchurch Boys High must be thinking very differently now. They will certainly want to refine their opinions if they meet at a school reunion.

Franks always wanted to be a footy player and preferably a prop. He was not really interested in school work but his frame refused to budge for his sport.

He was only 75kg in the fifth form, when he first tried out for the 1st XV. Franks missed selection and recalled he was taunted about his failure. He made it the next season and in his final year slapped on enough weight to bend the scales at 105kg - and any schoolmate who smirked at his sporting aims. "They used to laugh at me at lunchtime as I ate boiled potatoes and chicken and stuff like that, trying to put on weight," Franks recalled.

"They thought I was a bit crazy but then they started to see why I did it. They started to accept me a bit more."

Franks is now 22 and 119kg of refined power, who squats 250kg and cleans 150kg on the bar at the gym he and All Blacks brother Ben operate in Christchurch.

"I do pretty basic stuff." he said. "I don't get sucked into too much of the new-age training like Swiss balls and that stuff. Bench press, squat, power cleans, that's my sort of thing. I've been doing a bit of yoga lately, I've found that helps get rid of tightness."

Franks said he was a uninterested high school student. "You know how teachers say, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket' - well that's what I did," he recalled.

"Being from a working-class background, I always think I had the work ethic to be a footy player and I hope it pays off."

He plays his 14th test today, banging into Springbok loosehead Gurthro Steenkamp as they look to get their sides some scrummaging ascendancy at the Cake Tin.

His rival might not look athletically sharp but Franks said he was a tough challenge during the Super 14 and at Eden Park last week. Steenkamp was tall and pretty fit, making 25 tackles last game. "He may not be technically as sharp as Tony Woodcock but he is a very strong guy."

Franks says the build-up for a test is far more intense than Super 14 games. There was a great deal more pressure but he welcomed that scrutiny.

"I am young for a prop, you could say I am still in my apprenticeship," he agreed. "The way I see it the more scrums I get the better I will get.

"I'm getting all sorts of ideas as I go along but this is a different world.

"I like to build up steadily, I do not want to lose my temper or get too excited during the week, I want to save it for Saturday."

This week Franks found himself getting a bit wound up in pedestrian traffic in Wellington so retreated to his hotel and the gym.

It was always a long wait for a test. Match day was the worst, but he tried to stall his build-up until after lunch and a nap.

Franks praises his fisherman father Ken for showing him and his brother the dedication needed to make it to the top.

"He helps us run the gym but is still fishing too. He works hard. He is a tough man who worked on submarines for a while and I remember how he told me he spent two months in one of those tiny cabins.

"That was all about being mentally tough, things he has shown us."

There is no shirking work for Franks who loves to scrum then bust his gut in general play.

"If I get the core jobs done - no one wants a prop who can't scrum - then I do the rest, I love all the physical stuff.

"When you do it all it is a great feeling."