Rugby: 'New kid' Jackson displays genius

By Chris Rattue

The Waikato rugby fans delight in singing their Mooloo song, and clanging the cowbells, although those ear-splitting spectator weapons were not in great evidence during Hawkes Bay's alleged Ranfurly Shield challenge on Saturday.

Those die-hard fans, though, might have had another line on their songster lips - "there's a new kid in town" from an old Eagles song.

The new kid is Glen Jackson, and while Ian Foster was one of the revered heroes for so many years at Rugby Park, Jackson looks something "special," to steal one of John Hart's favourite descriptions of players he rates highly.

As Waikato coach Kiwi Searancke pointed out, Jackson was not placed under too much pressure from marauding forwards or a fast-closing backline during Waikato's 86-0 win in their third shield defence this season.

The log o' wood is the traditional name for the famous shield, but it could also have been used to describe the legs which did not propel the Hawkes Bay players around the field at any high speed.

It was an almost distressing display of the haves and have nots of New Zealand rugby, considering that Hawkes Bay should be a leading light in the second division.

Yet it may well have been Jackson's gifted performance which made the difference seem greater, allied to some top performances from the likes of halfback Rhys Duggan, wing Bruce Reihana, fullback Todd Miller, lock Chresten Davis, and loose forwards Nick Holten, Hayden Scown and the muscular Deon Muir.

Yet Jackson was supreme. When the Hawkes Bay backline defence disappeared, he sent his speedy backline away on another raid.

His kicking game had everything, the short grubbers to expose a lack of cover, the long kicks to put Waikato in positions where they could take full advantage of all their strengths.

He made the short cutting runs when they were needed, using support runners around him to confuse defenders. And he fed the more powerful support runners when the time was right.

Jackson had the game on a string - any more of this at the top level when the NPC starts or the Super 12 resumes next season and the Jackson name will go into the hat alongside Tony Brown and company when the national selectors consider back-ups to Andrew Mehrtens, who stands on his own as the class first five-eighths in New Zealand rugby.

The 23-year-old Jackson's rise has been blocked, but maybe also helped, by having to stand behind Foster for the past couple of years. In fact, 19 of his 24 games for Waikato have been as a replacement, a role which can make it difficult to press your claims.

But Foster's magnificent career has not been the only thing standing in the way. Jackson, who went to school at Otumoetai College in Tauranga, never made any age-group representative sides - a spell with the Bay of Plenty secondary school team being his only call-up to higher honours.

Cricket was his main calling as a teenager. He was a promising legspin bowler-batsman, and worked as a coach in primary schools after leaving school. Jackson even considered trying his luck with cricket in England, although once he was noticed by the Bay of Plenty school rugby selectors he decided that cricket was not his go.

His other employment, before professional rugby came along, was as a rep for an ice cream company. In the past couple of years he has been trying to start a career as primary schoolteacher, but professional rugby is a problem there.

Jackson, who is a more than useful goalkicker, has made major strides this year. He started every Super 12 game for the Chiefs except one, and was called into the New Zealand A side when Carlos Spencer was drafted in by the All Blacks before the two teams clashed at Christchurch in June.

He also made the New Zealand Maori tour to Fiji. Jackson had always known of his Maori heritage, but his interest in it was fired when his grandparents sent him details of his family history - he is from a South Island tribe - while he was with the Chiefs in South Africa this year.

"I copped plenty of stick from my mates when I was picked - I suppose Tony Brown gets the same," said Jackson, who like Brown does not look like he is of Maori descent. "But I want to stay involved with them. I loved learning some things about the culture and about the way they like to play the game."

It is too early to predict a rise right to the top for Jackson - and he has hardly had the time on the field to prove his worth at the top levels. But Waikato supporters in particular will await the outcome of this story with plenty of interest.