Whanau a curious worry for Wallaby Turinui

Wallaby midfielder Morgan Turinui (left) has been named vice-captain and given the job of babysitting rookie first five-eighth Mat Rogers. Picture / Reuters

Superstitious Wallaby midfielder Morgan Turinui would feel more comfortable about tomorrow's result against the All Blacks if he could remove his New Zealand cousins from Eden Park.


Until he banned his relations from the Waratahs' win this year in Dunedin against the Highlanders, Turinui had not tasted any decent Super 12 success in New Zealand.


"It's a bit harsh because they are Waratah supporters but Ewen McKenzie reckons they should stay away if we want the results and I guess that is the same for the Wallabies."


The 23-year-old chortles about the family allegiances either side of the Tasman, the split loyalties which came after his Maori father Cameron moved to Sydney 30 years ago and met his Australian mother Jenny.


His parents were huge sports fans and had travelled the world, scarcely missing a game he had played since growing up in Clovelly in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.


Their pride took another step this week when Turinui was chosen as the new Wallaby vice-captain, someone to babysit rookie first five-eighths Mat Rogers through tomorrow's Tri-Nations decider.


During the Super 12, Turinui prefers playing centre but for internationals he is happier with the role of second five-eighths.


"In test footy at 12 you are more guaranteed of being in the game. Sometimes you can get a bit lost at 13, especially when you are playing against a rush-up defence like South Africa and you don't see too much ball."


Not if Turinui had listened to his father who continued to play league in a local competition when he shifted to Sydney.


"Dad claims he was a ball-playing secondrower who spent a lot of time in the centres so maybe that is where I get something from - he was bludging out in the centres instead of doing the hard work," Turinui laughed.


"The tries he scored [in the retelling] are all getting to be a greater distance from the tryline as well."


Sport has been a huge part of Turinui's family life. His earliest rugby memory is of being taken out of primary school in 1988 to watch the All Blacks play Randwick at Coogee Oval.


"I was wearing my All Black jersey and Grant Fox was slotting goals from everywhere while Randwick were pulling off these great backline moves with Campo and Lloyd Walker."


Since then Turinui has shed his All Black allegiance, joined the Randwick club and is into his third season of international rugby.


In his first year, the 2003 World Cup season, he scored a coup with his other great passion, horseracing, when he chose the trifecta and the first four horses in the Melbourne Cup. The yield helped set him up in a new house.


"You don't want to waste it, you don't want to give it back and I have cut down on the punt a bit, I have got to be a bit quiet with a new child and a mortgage," he said.


So what odds does he give the Wallabies tomorrow? How can they curtail their losing streak?


"Oh, it is an uphill task. The dangerous thing for us would be to think about the result, think about how good a win it would be or what would happen if we lose," said Turinui.


"I think the good thing about this week is that we have had some new guys in and we have had to concentrate on the process because some of them have not been involved in the squad all year and they have to learn what the plays are.


"It has been a good revision for everyone, to get back to the specifics about how we want to attack teams and about getting our plays right.


"New Zealand have been playing a similar style now for a few years so we are used to that, we are pretty set in our game plan, we know how we want to play, it is about getting the detail right.


"I think the little things, the attention to detail, the work at the breakdown let us down in Sydney.


"We had a good lead and a pretty good opportunity to kick on and win and ended up losing by 17 points and that is a lot in test footy."


Turinui's recall of the Sydney test is largely off tape. He received a decent blow from Jerry Collins just before the interval, went back out but had to retire soon after.


There were no hard feelings from Turinui about the hit and he was also bemused that Collins had been banned for his part in last week's general melee against the Boks.


"I hate going off and I hate losing so I got the double that night," Turinui said.


 


 


Superstitious Wallaby midfielder Morgan Turinui would feel more comfortable about tomorrow's result against the All Blacks if he could remove his New Zealand cousins from Eden Park.


Until he banned his relations from the Waratahs' win this year in Dunedin against the Highlanders, Turinui had not tasted any decent Super 12 success in New Zealand.


"It's a bit harsh because they are Waratah supporters but Ewen McKenzie reckons they should stay away if we want the results and I guess that is the same for the Wallabies."


The 23-year-old chortles about the family allegiances either side of the Tasman, the split loyalties which came after his Maori father Cameron moved to Sydney 30 years ago and met his Australian mother Jenny.


His parents were huge sports fans and had travelled the world, scarcely missing a game he had played since growing up in Clovelly in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.


Their pride took another step this week when Turinui was chosen as the new Wallaby vice-captain, someone to babysit rookie first five-eighths Mat Rogers through tomorrow's Tri-Nations decider.


During the Super 12, Turinui prefers playing centre but for internationals he is happier with the role of second five-eighths.


"In test footy at 12 you are more guaranteed of being in the game. Sometimes you can get a bit lost at 13, especially when you are playing against a rush-up defence like South Africa and you don't see too much ball."


Not if Turinui had listened to his father who continued to play league in a local competition when he shifted to Sydney.


"Dad claims he was a ball-playing secondrower who spent a lot of time in the centres so maybe that is where I get something from - he was bludging out in the centres instead of doing the hard work," Turinui laughed.


"The tries he scored [in the retelling] are all getting to be a greater distance from the tryline as well."


Sport has been a huge part of Turinui's family life. His earliest rugby memory is of being taken out of primary school in 1988 to watch the All Blacks play Randwick at Coogee Oval.


"I was wearing my All Black jersey and Grant Fox was slotting goals from everywhere while Randwick were pulling off these great backline moves with Campo and Lloyd Walker."


Since then Turinui has shed his All Black allegiance, joined the Randwick club and is into his third season of international rugby.


In his first year, the 2003 World Cup season, he scored a coup with his other great passion, horseracing, when he chose the trifecta and the first four horses in the Melbourne Cup. The yield helped set him up in a new house.


"You don't want to waste it, you don't want to give it back and I have cut down on the punt a bit, I have got to be a bit quiet with a new child and a mortgage," he said.


So what odds does he give the Wallabies tomorrow? How can they curtail their losing streak?


"Oh, it is an uphill task. The dangerous thing for us would be to think about the result, think about how good a win it would be or what would happen if we lose," said Turinui.


"I think the good thing about this week is that we have had some new guys in and we have had to concentrate on the process because some of them have not been involved in the squad all year and they have to learn what the plays are.


"It has been a good revision for everyone, to get back to the specifics about how we want to attack teams and about getting our plays right.


"New Zealand have been playing a similar style now for a few years so we are used to that, we are pretty set in our game plan, we know how we want to play, it is about getting the detail right.


"I think the little things, the attention to detail, the work at the breakdown let us down in Sydney.


"We had a good lead and a pretty good opportunity to kick on and win and ended up losing by 17 points and that is a lot in test footy."


Turinui's recall of the Sydney test is largely off tape. He received a decent blow from Jerry Collins just before the interval, went back out but had to retire soon after.


There were no hard feelings from Turinui about the hit and he was also bemused that Collins had been banned for his part in last week's general melee against the Boks.


"I hate going off and I hate losing so I got the double that night," Turinui said.