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Home / Sport / Rugby / All Blacks

Dad gives hooker 'feet-on-ground' advice

4 Nov, 2001 09:14 AM3 mins to read

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New Otago All Black Tom Willis comes from a rugby-mad family who will make sure that his feet are kept firmly on the ground.

Eion Willis, his father, played rugby for Otago and was a successful coach who took the Southern club to a Dunedin premier banner in 1989. His mother,
Janet, has coached and administered netball.

"I'm certainly a very proud parent," Eion Willis said yesterday. "But we want Tom to stay there. The challenge is for him to become a good All Black."

Eion Willis warned his 22-year-old son that there were several young hookers waiting in the wings for him to falter.

All Black coach John Mitchell hinted that Willis had been given the nod because of his leadership capabilities. But talk of his becoming a future All Black captain are far from his mind at the moment.

"You have got to walk before you run," Tom Willis said. "I'm just rapt to be named in the tour party. I'm looking forward to making the most of any opportunities I get.

"I'm still young and full of ambition and can't wait to pull on the All Black jersey."

Willis thought team-mate John Blaikie was playing a joke when he rushed into his hotel room at Christchurch yesterday morning to announce his selection.

But it was confirmed a minute later by Otago NPC coach Laurie Mains.

"It's a bizarre feeling and it still hasn't sunk in," Willis said.

"It will probably hit me this afternoon when I get myself organised for the trip."

Willis is the 23rd All Black from the Southern club, which he joined as a seven-year-old.

In Wellington, loose forward Jerry Collins had a celebration barbecue planned at his Porirua home last night - but for his 21st birthday, rather than his recall to the All Blacks.

"A few good friends and family were going to come around for my birthday," Collins said. "I can't say I was waiting to hear my name called out."

Instead, about the time the squad were announced, Collins was getting ready to go to church.

"It's always nice to get selected and I hope this time I can make a better fist of things and will get more used to the environment," he said.

Collins' brief experience with the All Blacks this year ended when he was forced from the field with an injury in his test debut, against Argentina in Christchurch.

He thought his chances of touring might have gone, particularly after he injured his shoulder again, playing for Wellington against Auckland, and also because of the Wellington team's patchy season.

Collins was confident that after some intensive work during the past month, both his body and shoulder were now right.

- NZPA

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