RUGBY: Barney Spender
ON THE 12th green with the rain beginning to fall gently, the big man in the lumberjack shirt lines up the putt. His three colleagues look on quietly as he steadies himself, gripping the putter lightly in his lumberjack hands. Finally he is ready and the ball rolls toward the hole. And past the hole all the way to the other side of the green.
The big man curses, his friends laugh. “Don’t give up your day job, Zinny,” chuckles one of them.
Trying to get an interview with any of the All Blacks is never easy, such is the protective shroud around them, but getting to Zinzan Brooke was particularly awkward. After numerous phone calls during which Rick Salizzo, their media liaison man, had come out with the delightful new excuse of “media fatigue” as a reason why Brooke might not be able to talk, the big man finally agrees to meet the South African journalist.
A date and a time is set up in the All Blacks hotel on the Thursday before the final test in Auckland but, when the time comes, Brooke is not there. “He’s just gone out for a round of golf,” says Tanya, the hotel receptionist. “He’s just gone out for a round of golf,” echoes Rick, “you’re welcome to go round with him …”
Why, though? Why bother wandering half way round a golf course just as it is about to crash down with rain just to get a few moments of chat with a fellow who is stuffing up a busy afternoon? Because, in a phrase much used by Transvaal rugby supporters, he is simply the best.
Returning to the All Black side against France for the second test he was quite brilliant. He dominated that game and it was only when he went off five minutes from the end that France were able to throw off the shackles and score a match-winning try in the last minute of the game.
Against the Springboks, Brooke was the outstanding player of the three-match series. Whether it was his driving play, his endless workrate and countless tackles or his opportunistic, if unsuccessful drop goal attempts from the half-way line. Everything the All Blacks did had Zinny at the heart of it.
“I just carried on playing,” says Brooke of his time in the wilderness when I finally reach him on the fairway. “There’s nothing else you can do. Just carry on playing and hope that the selectors look at you.”
The 29-year-old Brooke began his leap to rugby stardom in 1987 when he pulled on the All Black jersey for the first time during the victorious World Cup campaign. At the time Buck Shelford was the undisputed owner of the number eight shirt although that changed in 1990 when Shelford, who was captaining the side, was dumped and Brooke installed, sparking off a famous “Bring back Buck” campaign.
“It was more the media who had the `Bring back Buck’ campaign and there was a bit of public appeal to it. But I think it was circumstances of how he got dropped and the timing of when he got dropped rather than anything to do with me. I was basically the meat in the sandwich.”
Brooke has now worn the All Black jersey in 27 tests and has established himself as probably the finest number eight in the world. In 1992 he came to South Africa for the first time to play in the “welcome back” test at Ellis Park. A close game, the All Blacks won and Brooke scored an audacious try just before half-time.
“That game at Ellis Park was amazing, just being there. For every kid in New Zealand it’s a dream to play against the Springboks and to do it there was incredible.”
Brooke says he had no problem at all about going to South Africa despite his Maori background. His comments reflect a common view among rugby players.
“We didn’t really know too much about the political side of things. It’s all pretty foreign to us. You only know what you read in the papers and you’ve got to be there to understand it.”
As for the controversial playing of Die Stem before the game he says: “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Although the current series against the Springboks was no cakewalk, and he has special admiration for Francois Pienaar, Tiaan Strauss and Mark Andrews as players, Brooke was surprised that the South African side was not as fresh as he had expected.
“I think you’ve got to look at their itinerary. They’ve just had England over there and now they are here. They’ve got Argentina arriving and then they are off to Britain. I feel for the players. It’s a lot of rugby especially when you’ve got the Super 10s and the Night series. They are going to be pretty tired by the time the World Cup comes around next year.”
Zinny is definitely a nice guy. He talks quite openly as he hacks his way up the course although in a way which suggests he is simply retreading old territory and old answers.
On his Maori background: “It is an important part of my life but I was never educated in the Maori culture. But for a lot of younger children they look up to their idols, if that’s what you want to call them, and if you can give them something, then that’s important.”
On his name, Zinzan: “It’s my grandmother’s maiden name, Sybil Zinzan, and it’s running in the family at the moment. There’s a couple of Zinzans in London who are second cousins. And Chris (Zinzan) Harris (the New Zealand cricketer) is related somewhere along the line. I think it comes from Italy.”
On the deal with Sky television which has removed the possibility of his going to play in Japan for a reported R1,5 million rand deal, the former plumber says: “I don’t really want to go to Japan, it’s a pretty hard lifestyle and there’s the language problem. Now I’ve got to sit down and have a chat with Sky after the Bledisloe Cup game and map out the direction of where they want to put me in the working area. This is my career now.”
We are now standing at the tee on the 13th. His colleagues, Shane Howarth, John Timu and Alama Leremia are all ready to move on. My time is up so I ask him one last question about his attitude towards rugby and life.
“I’ve obviously been involved in rugby for a long time but it’s not the bee-all and end-all of everything, there’s definitely life outside rugby.
“The enjoyment factor of playing for the All Blacks and even playing club rugby keeps me going because in all honesty your lifespan in rugby is only short at the top level. I think you have just got to get out there and make the most of it while the opportunity is there.”
It is a simple philosophy which ends abruptly. We shake hands and while he makes his way to the tee, I move off to the hotel, the rain getting heavier. I turn and watch him drive off, the ball fires away into the trees. There is a quiet curse and a plaintiff question to his mates, “Did anyone see where that went?” Don’t give up your day job Zinny.