Islanders come under NZ selection microscope

1.00pm

Some future stars of All Blacks rugby will be on show in tomorrow's test at North Harbour Stadium -- and not all of them will be wearing black.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry will find it hard not to keep half an eye on the performance of two Pacific Islanders players in particular, flanker Sione Lauaki and winger Sitiveni Sivivatu, who could yet feature in All Blacks squads of the near future.

The two Chiefs Super 12 standouts are among eight players in the Pacific Islanders squad yet to play test rugby. An International Rugby Board exemption for the combined team means those players are still to be "captured" by any nation.

Lauaki and Sivivatu both played in the All Blacks trial and Henry said their ability at test level was clear after watching the Pacific Islanders' 14-29 loss to Australia at Adelaide last Saturday.

"I thought they were two of the best players in the test match, and I'm talking about the 30 on the field. I thought Lauaki had a huge game.

"We were going to select him for the All Blacks this week but we thought that probably wasn't the right thing to do," Henry added, tongue in cheek.

Lauaki, who played at No 8 for most of his blockbusting Super 12 season debut, is playing through the pain of bone spurs in his ankles but that didn't stop him standing out against the Wallabies as a constant threat with ball in hand.

Former All Blacks loose forward great Michael Jones compared Lauaki with the other assistant coach of the Pacific Islanders, Willie Ofahengaue, the former Australian loose forward enforcer.

The comparison was apt, according to Chiefs captain Jono Gibbes, who will mark Lauaki on the blindside flank tomorrow.

"I know how devastating he is with ball in hand so it's a big challenge for me. He'll be wanting to get one over me, no doubt about that," Gibbes said.

"While Sione has missed out on the All Blacks, he's gone on to play international rugby with the Islanders team and they've shown they're definitely up to that level.

"Getting him to ground early, I guess, is the key with him. He carries the ball really strong and off-loads in the tackle. If we can stop that momentum it will help our defensive line."

Gibbes planned to send Lauaki a cheeky text message before the weekend, something he was sure would get a response from the Tongan-born 23-year-old.

Pacific Islanders coach John Boe believed Lauaki and Fijian Sivivatu, who becomes eligible for the All Blacks in November, would both play for New Zealand.

He has always accepted some leading players from the islands would pledge their future to the All Blacks but strongly believes the next tier should be available to represent the Islands.

"I'm sure they're strong contenders to go away later in the year and that's fine, we wish them well and we've always done that," he said.

Also among the eight uncapped players are young Auckland starting prop Saone Tonga'uiha and the only squad member not from Tonga, Fiji or Samoa -- Tu Tamarua of the Cook Islands.

The other four are all members of New Zealand Super 12 franchises, Highlanders centre Seilala Mapusua and lock Felipo Levi, Hurricanes second five-eighth Tane Tuipulotu and Blues first five-eighth Tasesa Lavea.

Another breakdown of the Pacific Islanders shows that 13 play rugby in New Zealand, six each in England and Japan, one in Scotland and just two in the islands -- Fijian based pair Joeli Lotawa and Sisa Koyamaibole.

Five are born in New Zealand, with the other 23 born in the islands.

Just three of the All Blacks squad were born in the islands -- winger Joe Rokocoko in Fiji, and fullback Mils Muliaina and flanker Jerry Collins in Samoa.

A number of other All Blacks have varying degrees of Pacific island heritage.

- NZPA