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Rokocoko reveals plan to jump ship for Olympic glory

Joe Rokocoko at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. (Photo by Manuel Blondeau via Getty Images)

Former All Blacks star Joe Rokocoko has revealed former Fiji 7s coach Ben Ryan tried to get the flying wing to join his team’s Rio Olympics bid that ended in gold medal triumph in 2016.

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Nadi born Rokocoko, who moved to New Zealand when he was five-years-old, told the Fiji Times that growing up he had wanted to play for the Fiji 7s having been inspired by the performances of Waisale Serevi at the Hong Kong Sevens tournament. “I would have loved the opportunity,” said Rokocoko who scored a staggering 46 tries in 68 matches for the All Blacks before moving to France and playing for Bayonne and Racing Metro.

“Ben messaged me (in 2015) because of this eligibility stuff going around where former internationals began talks of playing for their home country. He asked me if I was interested in playing for the Fiji 7s team.

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“He invited me over for a tournament to have a fitness test and train with the 7s players, but unfortunately my club did not release me. In the end, World Rugby scrapped the idea because of the amount of players wanting to change eligibility.”

Those eligibility laws have now been changed by World Rugby allowing players such as Wallaby star Israel Folau and former All Blacks Malakai Fekitoa and Charles Piutau to play for Tonga while former All Blacks centre Setareki Tamanivalu is now in the Fiji squad.

Rokocoko, who had played his last All Blacks test in 2010, added: “Everyone says when I grow up, I would like to be an All Black. For me, I grew up wanting to be a Fiji 7s player. I only knew about the All Blacks when I started playing age-grade rugby in New Zealand.

“The reason why I wanted to be a Fiji 7s player was because of players such as Waisale Serevi. We would wait for the Hong Kong 7s, and in New Zealand it would come on television late at night and we did not care about school the next day.”

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H
Hellhound 12 minutes ago
South Africa will beat England at a canter

Very good article and no, you are definitely not the only one. You hit the nail on the head with both teams. England will fall back to the WC semi ta tics, whereas the Boks will run it. They mean to destroy, not only with their forwards but with their backs too.


There is immense speed in that backline. England need a miracle. The Boks have the best defence and attack this year. This Bok team is different from the one from the semi. Most the same players, but way different tactics from last year.


Manie Libbok has a lot to prove and with Sacha basically making the 10 his own with exceptional games this year, I'm sure he will be out to showcase just how dangerous he is. No one in the team except a few is absolutely certain of their places. The rest is going to go hard at the English to prove why they should be considered every time.


These Boks targeted the English game as the toughest of the Autumn nations series. This is the game they want to win. They want to prove that the WC semi result was a fluke. They want to show just why they are the current Kings of rugby.


It's hard to stop a team who has lost only 2 Tests this year, both by a point. It could've been 11/11. What makes it scarier is that in each and every Test, they swapped many players and still came away with wins. The ability to muscle and grind out wins is this team's best attribute.


They believe in their coaches and each and every team mate. They are full in. Playing on the day or not. This is going to be a slaughter. Before the teams was named, I had the Boks by a winning margin of 12-15 points, but after it was named, I changed it to 20+.


The English is going to give the Boks the ball and the Boks is going to run them ragged. This team wasn't chosen to play the same boring strategy of the WC semi.

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