Editorial: Not all Kiwi heroes need to wear black

All Blacks loose forward Liam Squire scores against Australia, during the second Bledisloe Cup rugby test match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies at Eden Park. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Editorial

EDITORIAL

It's what many Kiwi children dream about — lifting the Webb Ellis trophy like David Kirk, Richie McCaw, or Fiao'o Fa'amausili in front of millions of adoring fans from Paihia to Paris.

It's the pinnacle event of the nation's favourite game, the stuff heroes are made of and, as All Blacks selector Grant Fox said this week, the stakes have never been higher.

Explaining some of the selections in the All Blacks' 31-man squad for the tournament announced on Wednesday, Fox admitted players were "desperate to go" to Japan.

"Every time you pick [a squad] is difficult but it just gets crystalised a little bit more at Rugby World Cup. It's a bigger event, there's more noise around it from [the media], fans, and the players are desperate to go."

One of the most notable absentees from the list was Liam Squire, the 28-year-old enforcer who, after a conversation with head coach Steve Hansen, ruled himself out of selection — later explaining on social media that he "wasn't ready just yet physically or mentally" to be thrust back into the blinding spotlight of an event that could last up to six weeks.

Squire's continued absence from the All Blacks has certainly raised eyebrows, but his acknowledgment that "mental health is a lot more important than playing rugby" — less than 48 hours after news that New Zealand suicide death rates have reached record-high levels — is more courageous than anything we'll come across on the rugby pitches from September 20.

The decision means Squire, who will play abroad from next season, will likely never have the opportunity to get his hands on rugby's most coveted silverware.

It also reminds us that not all heroes need to wear black.