Rob Rush on the charge. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Rob Rush on the charge. Photo / Michael Cunningham
New Blues loose forward Rob Rush has revealed the extraordinary influence his All Black father wielded over his rugby development.
Sevens legend Eric Rush, who also played nine tests during the 1990s, decided his son was spending too much time in front of a screen as a kid, so forcedhim into rugby.
Eric Rush – who runs a Whangārei supermarket - didn’t just push Rob onto the rugby field.
The way his son describes it, he and brother Brady – a member of the All Blacks sevens team - were plunged into a full-blooded mind and body conditioning programme.
After being named in the Auckland-based Super Rugby squad for 2023, the Whangārei apprentice electrician said he was now grateful for the various methods Eric had employed even though they were “brutal” at times.
“Funnily enough as a kid, I wasn’t into rugby,” he told Newstalk ZB.
“I was one of the weirdos at school, more into TV programmes, Lord of the Rings, cartoons, video games.
“Once dad saw that he said I wasn’t going to sit there all day looking at a screen, and I’m thankful for that.
“My old man forced me to play rugby. Mum said ‘let him do what he wants’ but dad said no, put his foot down, made me hit the roads with Brady.
“He was quite soft on my older brothers, but he drilled us.”
Eric Rush in action against France in Paris,1995. Photo / Photosport
Eric Rush, now 57, was a loose forward whose career took off when he converted to the wing. He was famous for being superbly conditioned, playing sevens for New Zealand into his late 30s.
Rob Rush recalled going on tough dad-style runs, waking up at 5.30 to train, then training again at night after working in the family’s supermarket.
“It was rinse and repeat for the whole summer,” he said.
“He drilled it from day dot – work hard when the other fellas won’t. Our childhood was based on that one quote. Brady and I never had x-factor, we had to make it up somehow.
“That was dad’s way of saying if you want to be good, you have to work for it.”
Rob admitted it was tough being in earshot on one occasion as his dad spilled the x-factor line to a coach at the Kerikeri clubrooms.
“It was a bit of a roast but it pissed me off enough to work harder,” he said.
“He said to one of the old coaches from Kaeo ‘this boy’s got no x-factor, but he can work hard – if you can work the x-factor into him, we’re going to go a long way.’
“In the moment it was brutal, it was hell, but now what’s coming of it…I’d do it all over again without a doubt and I think Brady would say the same.
“Although it would have been nice if he gave us a little bit of x-factor.”
And it seems the Eric Rush spirit is alive and well in his son, with Rob declaring he was gearing up to oust big name All Black loose forwards in the Blues starters.
It seems Dalton Papali’i, Akira Ioane, Hoskins Sotutu and co. will know he’s about.
“It’s going to be a real buzz working next to those fellas. My dad said be respectful to them, the All Blacks and all that, but when it comes down to it, you’re going up against them,” he said.
“He said ‘give it your all boy, those fellas bleed just like you’. You’re going to have to go up against them eventually, so why not do it at training?
“I respect them in regards they are All Blacks, but in training I’ve got no respect for you. I’m going there to compete for a spot.
“I’m going to try my hardest to knock them off their seats. My old man drilled me – as soon as you get a sniff man, you take it with both hands. There will be opportunities at some point in the season, and it will start at training.
“I’m going to show the coaches I’m here for it, not here to hold these fellas’ tackle bags the whole time. She’s all go for me.”
Rush said Blues coach Leon MacDonald had given him clear instructions around penalty counts and discipline.
“He likes the roughness of how I play but because I go hard I sometimes lose my head, my cool,” he said.
He has a long-term goal of making the All Blacks, partly inspired by the exhortations of guess who.
“My old man said even when he was playing, he didn’t realise how close he was to making the All Blacks,” said Rush.
“I guess since I’m here I might as well have a crack. The end goal is the black jersey, but first things first.”
His priorities already include ensuring he has a post-rugby life sorted, although one of his tasks over the next few weeks will be resigning from an electrical firm that has given him wonderful support as his rugby career blossomed.
In his typically straight forward way, Rush also believes minnows Northland can win the NPC title next year if they keep a core of players together.
And he is delighted to get the Blues call-up.
“The Blues were definitely my first choice,” he said.
“They are close to home, I know half the team already, I’ve grown up playing rugby with them.
