Sivivatu in eligibility tug-of-war

By CHRIS RATTUE

Fiji are warning rising Chiefs wing Sitiveni Sivivatu he faces a two-year stand down from international rugby if he wants to fulfil his dream of becoming an All Black.

The Chiefs wing shapes as a World Cup bolter, showing promise at a time when New Zealand's cupboard is bare in the wing department, apart from the brilliant Doug Howlett.

But the International Rugby Board regulations are once again under scrutiny, with the Fiji Rugby Union contesting the Counties-Manukau player's status because his first two years in New Zealand were as a schoolboy.

Sivivatu is understood to be writing to the FRU stating he wants to be an All Black, and the Steelers have nominated him for the New Zealand Colts.

But Sivivatu's immediate future may not totally be in his hands.

Fiji and New Zealand have negotiated for a week over the player, who turns 21 next month.

New Zealand Rugby Union deputy chief executive Steve Tew said Sivivatu's status needed IRB clarification and it was gathering information in relation to the 36-month residency qualification.

Sivivatu came to New Zealand on a Wesley College scholarship in February 2000 while his parents remained in Fiji, and left school at the end of 2001.

He should meet continuous residency status because he returned to Fiji only twice - for his grandfather's funeral and Christmas last year.

But an IRB guideline states that time spent "studying abroad" does not count.

Countering that, Sivivatu's advisers say he was nearly 18 when he came to this country - old enough to make his own decisions.

But Tew admitted: "It's a sensitive issue when you are dealing with someone of school age."

Sivivatu is an automatic selection in Mac McCallion's 32-man World Cup squad, which has a busy season.

McCallion said from Suva yesterday: "The Fijian way is to say yes to everyone ... I just don't want the wool pulled over his eyes.

"His father told me Siti wants to play for Fiji, but I actually understand the young fella wants to be an All Black.

"The decision is down to him and I don't want to stand in the way of that. But he's got to realise he will be in isolation for a couple of years. I want him to have all the information."

Sitiveni's father, a top policeman, has apparently backed a FRU challenge to his son's New Zealand eligibility.

The FRU chief executive Pio Bosco Tikoisuva said: "We're losing too many schoolboys into the New Zealand system and they end up playing against us."