Txt 2 Siti: Good on ya cuzzie

Sitiveni Sivivatu will be working hard to please his All Black team-mates when they take on Fiji on Friday. Picture / Brett Phibbs

Text messages either side of the All Black trial from cousin Joe Rokocoko have buoyed new wing Sitiveni Sivivatu for Friday's test debut duel with his Fijian countrymen.

While Rokocoko was dispatched to sevens tournaments in Europe to search for the form which eluded him during the Super 12, he kept in touch with his older cousin's chase for his test jersey.

"He wished me good luck before the trial and then he texted me afterwards saying it was good I got in because I had been waiting for so long," Sivivatu said yesterday.

Eleven months ago, Sivivatu was allowed to play test rugby for the Pacific Islanders against the All Blacks without affecting his wish to play for New Zealand.

The 23-year-old wing scored two dazzling tries at the same North Harbour Stadium where he will square off against Fiji.

"We know Sivi has a left-foot step and Vili Satala will be waiting for him to step off that left side," Fiji coach Wayne Pivac suggested.

Sivivatu dismissed any talk that he would be targeted by his countrymen and could not remember scoring against the All Blacks.

"Too much rugby, I can't remember," he said with his standard smile.

"The Fijians are all good players, there is no doubt about that. I'm not too sure what's on their minds.

"I have thought about them and it's all about how confident you are and I'm confident about myself."

Sivivatu played soccer as a striker and goalkeeper until taking up rugby, as fullback, in his last two years at Ratu Kadevulevu School in Suva.

A scholarship got him to Wesley College near Pukekohe in 1999 and he debuted for Counties Manukau in his last school year.

During those times, Rokocoko's father coached the cousins at sevens and told both they should aspire to be All Blacks.

That notion becomes reality on Friday when Sivivatu takes over from Rokocoko, scorer of an extraordinary 27 tries in 23 internationals.

Now it is a question of whether the cousins can play in tandem for the All Blacks against the Lions.

"I don't know what will happen," Sivivatu said. "All I know is that Joe is good all the time."

Last year the All Black selectors were forced to rethink their plans for Sivivatu when the International Rugby Board ruled the wing did not qualify for New Zealand until early December.

After Sivivatu turned down the chance to play for Fiji in the 2003 World Cup, the island nation complained it could not retain its players. That led to controversy about an IRB ruling that Sivivatu's three years' schooling at Wesley College did not count in his residency application.

Subsequently, it is understood the wing told Fiji that no matter what, he would not play for them before this year.

That threat became redundant this week when he was chosen for the All Blacks' first test of the season as a prelude to the Lions series.

Rather than discuss his pride at being picked for the All Blacks, Sivivatu said he appreciated how New Zealand rugby had helped him.

"I just want to concentrate on my job this week and do everything the team wants," he said.

Sivivatu's aunt, who lives in Pukekohe, and some of the Rokocoko family will attend the match.

But the wing's greatest pride will be having his mother in the crowd at North Harbour Stadium after she flies in from Fiji.

Sitiveni Sivivatu

* Age: 23.

* Height: 1.85m.

* Weight: 99kg.

* Super 12: Chiefs, eight tries this season.

* Did you know? Scored five tries for Waikato in last year's 59-11 NPC win against Auckland.