Rugby: Fruean hopes it's third time lucky with All Blacks bid

Robbie Fruean. Photo / The Christchurch Star

Robbie Fruean's All Black hopes were dashed the past two years, but the Crusaders centre is doing extra yards to make it third time lucky.

The 23-year-old says winning a black jersey is his big goal this year - and he knows the way to earn it is a steady record with the Crusaders.

A taste of international rugby when he played for the Henry and Hansen-coached Barbarians against the Wallabies at Twickenham in November has made him hungrier.

Fruean had an excellent 2011 for the Crusaders and backed that up as a key figure in Canterbury's fourth consecutive NPC success.

But the former IRB world under-19 player of the year knows he was overlooked for the All Blacks because of deficiencies in his workrate and work off the ball, and he intends to fix that.

He's started by doing extra training after team sessions.

"Even if it's going for a bike or going for a walk - and I'm trying to make sure I'm eating well, eating enough, eating sufficiently, and just really focusing on recovering well."

He's already felt the benefit of riding in the gym and on his mountain bike. "I've got a lot of support crew that continue to help me that come along and do it with me, teammates and friends and family."

Zac Guildford - another player with something to prove this year - Matt Todd and Patrick Osborne are among those who've been jumping on the bikes with him regularly.

Fruean said he was upset missing out on an All Black call-up last year, but "heaps of things came out of it in terms of what I needed to do," and he was "happy for the guys that went on". Their World Cup win was inspiring and has "driven me to do a lot more this year".

Fruean won't have Sonny Bill Williams alongside him this season, but will build on the effective partnership he had with Ryan Crotty in the NPC. He would miss the "aura" Williams had around the team, but Crotty had really stepped up, he said.

"He's got a different style and game and I think it's probably going to bring the best out of both of us. And we've both got aspirations to be in the All Black squad, and obviously we'll be driving a lot together in terms of really helping each other out."

Fruean came back to the Crusaders fresh from a holiday for a week and a half in Rarotonga, where he caught up with relatives.

He said he dreaded the thought of hard training again when he was flying back from England, but worked to shift some pounds in Rarotonga.

"And when I came back and saw the guys working hard, it inspired me to get out there. And once I got out there, the Super Rugby season couldn't come too soon."

- Christchurch Star