By CLAIRE TREVETT
Children wanting to follow in the footsteps of today's All Blacks should be playing rugby before they can tie up their bootlaces.
A survey shows the average starting age of the present squad was 6-1/2 and more than half had played a rugby game by the time they
were 5.
Jono Gibbes and Marty Holah were 4 when they first took to the field.
The late starter was Chris Jack, who did not turn to rugby until he was 11.
But an early debut did not necessarily mean early genius with the ball - Justin Marshall and Keith Robinson could not make their secondary schools' First XV.
The survey was commissioned by Air New Zealand to explore the psyche of a modern All Black.
Four reports will come from the questionnaires, which looked at the psychology of being an All Black, influences on the team, and their thoughts on international travel.
The first findings, released yesterday, covered players' childhood years and the influences that shaped their sporting careers.
All but two players were encouraged to start playing by their parents.
And like most rugby-playing schoolboys, the dream of being an All Black started at a young age - 15 knew they wanted to wear the black jersey by the time they were 10. By secondary school, 80 per cent of them had decided.
The odd ones out could have been the 40 per cent of respondents who played soccer as their first game.
Others never wavered from the game they first played, although there was some movement around the field. Only two are still in the positions where they started.
Teenage growth spurts ruled some out of childhood positions. Lock Chris Jack, who now tops 2.02m as the tallest of the All Blacks, started as a midfield back, Robinson moved from schoolboy hooker to lock, and Gibbes, who played as blindside flanker in his first match, began as a first five-eighth.
But it was not all rugby, rugby, rugby. Most had other sporting interests, with cricket the top choice.
