News

Franks set to make his mark

July 29 2009

New Zealand tighthead prop Owen Franks has been backed by Steve Hansen to take his chance after being named in the side to face South Africa on Saturday.

The 21-year-old has been picked for the match in Durban as a replacement for the injured Neemia Tialata.

Franks came off the bench in the All Black's 28-19 defeat to Australia in Bloemfontein and will be hoping he can help his side fares better against the Springboks.

His remarkable rise to international rugby looked unlikely at the start of the Super 14 campaign, fourth in the tighthead prop pecking order at the Crusaders behind older brother Ben, Wyatt Crockett and Bronson Murray.

But after getting regular game-time after an injury to his brother, Franks impressed New Zealand's selectors and was named in the Junior All Blacks squad before moving up to the first team.

"He's mentally tough. He's got a very, very single focus on what he wants to achieve and he works hard to achieve that," All Blacks forwards coach Steve Hansen told The Press.

"He's been on the radar for a long time, he's like his brother. He's played in under-age sides and he's just come through very quickly this year."

Franks is among the youngest props to ever start an All Blacks Test. He is about a year older than the record-holder Mark Irwin, who debuted against Australia at Wellington in 1955.

"At the start of the year I set my goals to maybe get a couple of starts for the Crusaders and maybe have a crack at the Junior All Blacks," Franks told NZPA.

"Even then, that was setting my sights quite high."

Murray lost form and Ben - an All Black against Munster last November - broke his foot, resulting in regular game time in the second half of the Super 14 campaign.

His form impressed the All Blacks selectors so much that he was named as a standby player for the June Tests. His debut was as a reserve against Italy last month, followed by impressive bench outings against the Wallabies and Springboks.

"It's been a good progression. I've got a bit more game time each week. I'm feeling pretty comfortable within the team," Franks said.

"I've been coming off the bench 3-4 times now and I'm pretty confident I can do the business starting."

Franks was welcomed to the big time by Bakkies Botha, who called him 'fatty' ("I might have to work on that, go on the treadmill or something. Maybe I'm not looking too good out on the field"), but he describes his rise as a "natural progression", with his second half at Bloemfontein another step on a steep pathway.

The second step after coming on was to learn very quickly not to lose one's cool in the high-pressure atmosphere, as he gave away a penalty for rushing robustly to Ma'a Nonu's aid.

"It was quite funny because I had lunch with my dad (Ken) on the morning of the test and he told me I'm going to be excited so don't go out there and do something stupid in the first 30 seconds," he said.

"What do you know, I give away a penalty in the first 30. It was just one of those things."

His father and brother have been huge influences on his career, with his fisherman father spending extensive time helping the boys train while home: "He's been going with us our whole lives to get us to this stage."

Brother Ben's influence is even greater - he could be the sole reason Owen is still here after saving him from a blazing family home.

"He woke me up but I fell back to sleep so he had to make two trips and come get me again," Owen recalled.

"He saved the day pretty much. It (the house) was pretty much stuffed."

So Durban and Franks' first start is the next step in a new prop's career, and Franks hopes for it to be a little sweeter than the first two.

"It was tough on the lungs but I thought the scrums were good. Obviously it's crap to lose but I just need to be happy with the way I went," he said on Bloemfontein.

"There's a lot of things to improve on but I think the base is there."

Coach Graham Henry has also reinstated Jimmy Cowan at scrum-half for the crunch tie against the Boks, at the expense of Brendon Leonard, who Henry said was bitterly disappointed.

"I just think he needs a bit more game time and he played when the All Blacks weren't playing particularly well," he said.

"He will get another opportunity, hopefully not too far ahead, and he will take it."