Life on the big stage
BLAC K SEVENS TEAM MEMBER SCOTT CURRY IS INTO HIS FOURTH SEASON IN THE BLAC K JERSEY, WITH THE REPOROARAISED MANAWATU REPRESENTATIVE NOW ONE OF THE STALWARTS OF THE TEAM. HE SAT DOWN WITH PLAYERSOWN, SHORTLY BEFORE HEADING TO THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES.
PLAYERSOWN: You’ve had fantastic success on the IRB world series but this will be your first Commonwealth Games. What are you expecting? SC: It’s going to be different being part of a bigger New Zealand team. Usually when we go away, there’s just 12 of us plus the management, so being part of a massive group of New Zealanders going overseas taking part in a pinnacle event is going to be pretty exciting. Getting to watch other athletes going for gold is also going to be pretty special – it’s going to be great rubbing shoulders with the big name athletes.
PLAYERSOWN: You’ve had four years with the All Black Sevens team - what’s been the highlight in that time? SC: My first jersey presentation and playing my first game were two pretty memorable experiences for me. I made my debut in Dubai in 2010 and Keith Quinn presented our jerseys and had a little chat with us. My first game was in pool play against the United States – I was so nervous! Other highlights include winning the Wellington tournament - I’ve been lucky enough to have played in two tournaments there now and we’ve won them both. You can’t beat winning in front of friends and family, in your own country – it’s an amazing feeling.
PLAYERSOWN: Reporoa has produced some impressive players in recent years - Sam Cane, Carl Axtens and your brothers Shaun and Adrian. What do you put that down to? SC: Reporoa’s a small country town and we never really had a shopping centre to
hang out at after school and there were no movie theatres or anything like that. With a family of four boys, we always watched the All Blacks growing up and I hear Dad was pretty good back in the day. Sam and Carl grew up pretty close to where we lived and we’d all get together and muck around with a basketball or rugby ball, or play touch. We’d be kicked outside until dinner time and we’d make up our own games and keep ourselves amused. All our lunchtimes at school were spent playing sport too. I guess that country background has been a big advantage - we were always out helping on the farm and I guess that helped with work ethic too.
PLAYERSOWN: What’s been the most important lesson you’ve learned in the All Black Sevens environment? SC: We’ve got a bit of pressure on us because of our reputation so the biggest aspect in this team is dealing with the mental side of things. David Galbraith, who is pretty onto it when it comes to mental skills, has helped a lot dealing with pressure, not just on the rugby field but outside of rugby as well.