Enigmatic Kinikinilau can't be left in the sevens wilderness

Roy Kinikinilau runs in for a score at the Wellington Sevens. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Roy Kinikinilau poses problems on many fronts. There's his name for a start. It's a blighter to pronounce, even tougher to spell. Then there's his physique. At 1.94m and 112kg, he presents defenders with significant issues.

But the biggest problem, and the one no one has yet solved, is how to get this enormously talented young man to fulfil his potential. He came close yesterday. He always does when he plays sevens. The wide spaces suit him perfectly. His huge legs just eat up the ground and his giant paws can swat away those unfortunate enough to end up in his path.

At times he looks very similar to Jonah Lomu.

The ambling gait which belies the frightening pace is the greatest similarity. He has that ability, too, to set the hairs on the back of your neck tingling with the way he can run over the top of other grown men. But that ability has so rarely surfaced in the 15-a-side code. The promise titillates but a tease is only fun for so long.

The enigma that is Roy Kinikinilau needs to be solved and the answer may be quite simple. He was a promising No 8 until 2003 when Wellington coach John Plumtree simply couldn't resist the temptation to find out whether Kinikinilau really could be the next Jonah. So after a lifetime at the back of the scrum the big fella found himself on the wing.

Just like Jonah, he struggled as much as he succeeded. The bit where he got the ball and smashed through the poor weed marking him was simple enough. Life got tricky, though, when the roles reversed. Those weeds proved quite cunning, capable of dastardly deeds like changing angle late or chipping over the top.

The experiment of playing Kinikinilau on the wing was valid but perhaps the time has come to accept that New Zealand could be ruining the career of a potentially legendary All Black No 8.

Speaking to the man himself it seems as if he is edging towards that conclusion too but he doesn't really feel he's in a position to argue his case.

"I wasn't sure at the beginning and I'm just kind of stuck with it now," he says. "It takes a lot of getting used to. I love smashing people. I need to to learn to be more consistent and work a bit harder on my concentration. Sometimes you feel you are just waiting for the ball to come to you on the wing.

"I like sevens because the ball comes to you a lot more. There's a bit more space and opportunity to run over people."

The sense of disillusionment is obvious and that is why league clubs came knocking when he missed out on a Super 12 contract late last year. He says league is not really a game he fancies. But living off a sevens and NPC contract makes paying the bills tough.

Every man has his price and given that Kinikinilau is the sort of player who is right up the NRL's alley, his price would no doubt be quite handsome. His performance in Wellington will have got the NRL men frothed into quite a lather.

For the meantime Kinikinilau is happy to repel their advances. He hopes to get a fair crack with the Wellington NPC team later this year and stake his claim to be brought back into the Super 12 fold.

"The sevens are a really good way to get back into 15s. The training is hard. It gets you really fit and as a member of the Hurricanes' extended squad I don't really get much opportunity to play games at the moment. I need to set myself some goals in 15s and try to achieve them."

Taking responsibility for his career would be a step in the right direction. His concentration does seem flak and partly responsible for him drifting in and out of games.

But ultimately his destiny is controlled by others who surely must sit down and ask Kinikinilau just exactly what his goals are.