South African working hard for All Black selection

By CHRIS RATTUE

Greg Rawlinson knows all about sporting fate, and that you should never let a chance go by.

The 26-year-old South African lock - who has set his sights on All Black selection when he qualifies through 36 months' continuous residency in May 2006 - is winning increasing notice in the under-rated Harbour pack.

His first season with the Blues was hampered by a foot injury which required an operation and gave him a late NPC start. But his power and work-rate have quickly come to the fore again in his second season with Harbour.

Rawlinson's uncle, Don Speirs, spent four years on the Natal bench in the late 1970s without taking the field. Speirs, a hooker, also covered flanker and wing in the days of fewer replacements.

When his chance arrived, Speirs was rated one of Natal's finest. Yet by the time a Springbok call-up beckoned, as a replacement on the controversial 1981 New Zealand tour, a knee injury had wrecked his career.

Believing doors to the top were closed in South Africa, Rawlinson had no hesitation in heading to New Zealand when he heard Bay of Plenty needed a new lock in 2002.

Rawlinson, a graphic designer, was a late bloomer. The gangly student played for his school's second XV, then took a year off playing to build strength in the gym.

But he found it hard to break into top sides - coming from outside the development systems - and played for Natal B.

Bay of Plenty provided his first rugby contract, but he never felt comfortable in small-city Tauranga. That helped persuade him to sign for North Harbour after the 2002 NPC.

Then, as he was negotiating with the Blues through the New Zealand Rugby Union contract system, the Sharks called.

"Being born and bred in Natal, I always wanted to play for the Sharks," said Rawlinson.

"I was changing my mind from day to day. One second I was almost packing my bags to go home. The next I was thinking about being here for the next three years.

"Natal were very keen. They were ready to offer whatever I wanted sort of thing. It was hard."

Rawlinson opted for a New Zealand contract as his game had progressed here and he regards residency as a prized asset because of South Africa's volatility.

But there was a further tug on the heartstrings during his six-month return home when he was called in for one game with the Sharks against the Highlanders at Durban in March last year.

"That made it even harder for me - I was almost sad at the time that I had to come back to New Zealand," he says.

Rawlinson has got the homesick blues out of his system although should things not go his way here, he could still bid for the Springbok jersey that eluded his uncle. For now though, the Blues and All Blacks are his goals, and New Zealand his home.

"When I first came to Bay of Plenty I wrote down one of my goals was to move to Auckland and play Super 12," he says.

"It was maybe something I didn't really believe myself though. It's amazing how it has worked out."