News

So'oialo hands off Read pressure

August 11 2009

New Zealand loose forward Rodney So'oialo says he is not feeling under pressure for his place from newcomer Kieran Read.

So'oialo, a veteran of 56 Tests, has looked far from his best in the past two Tri-Nations losses to South Africa and the earlier win against Australia, despite being rested for the June Tests against France and Italy after a tough Super 14 campaign.

Read on the other hand has staked a decent claim for a starting berth against Australia in Sydney with solid efforts off the bench in Bloemfontein and Durban.

Read also had some success at the back of the scrum during So'oialo's absence in June and if coach Graham Henry is looking to shake things up to kick-start their Tri-Nations defence on August 22 then So'oialo may pay the price.

"I'll just continue doing what I do. Reado is a good player and so is everyone else in that (All Blacks) team," he said.

"I just need to continue working hard. It's easy getting into a team, staying in there is very difficult and it's a challenge that everyone has to put up with when you make the All Blacks."

So'oialo still appears to be frustrated by the poor performances by the All Blacks in South Africa where they struggled with even the most basic of skills at times.

"We haven't fired and the frustrating thing for us is not being able to pull all the stuff we've been working on together," the loose forward added.

"We didn't finish off well at all in South Africa. We've got so much to give and yet we haven't fired anything yet."

So'oialo is the only New Zealand international in the mix for Wellington's Air New Zealand Cup game against Bay of Plenty of Saturday.

Piri Weepu, Cory Jane, Neemia Tialata and possibly Conrad Smith will instead turn out for the Wellington B side against Horowhenua-Kapiti with Lions coach Jamie Joseph sticking to his policy of not automatically picking All Blacks released back to their provinces.

So'oialo is in contention because of injuries to loose forwards Faifili Levave and Serge Lilo. Openside flanker Scott Fuglistaller also missed training on Tuesday with flu.

While his stance has raised a few eyebrows Joseph is unrepentant.

"When you are trying to build a rugby team and you have guys coming for one training before big matches it's impossible. It's hard to do that anyway when we're training every day let alone when they are coming in and out again," the former All Blacks forward said.

"The players understand where I'm coming from with regards to building this team but are obviously frustrated that they can't play as well."