Rather than charging out of the Lansdowne Road tunnel tomorrow attired in his fearsome All Black kit, imagine for a moment that - by some twist of fate or birth - Zinzan Brooke was an Irishman. Now, what sport do you think he would play?
The answer is Gaelic football, a sport he actually has a strong association with thanks to his days playing club football Down Under with Roskill Rangers in the 1980s. In his autobiography Zinny - The Zinzan Brooke Story, the New Zealand rugby colossus even goes so far as to state: "Were I an Irishman I'd play Gaelic football till the day I dropped dead." Brooke's introduction to GAA came courtesy of another All Black, Bernie McCahill who, back in 1983, enticed him into playing club football during the summer months. In his book, Brooke recalls: "I unashamedly wallowed in the game, great for elevation skills, anticipation, kicking off either foot (a must), running, passing by hand or kick-passing. And the contact! The contact made the blood run whether you were taking it or giving it."
One of Brooke's most cherished recollections of his days playing football - he actually played in the Australasian championship for six years - was coming face to face with Jim Stynes, the former Dublin minor and brother of current inter-county star Brian.
"In the Australasian championships we played a team which had a giant named Jimmy Stynes they had caught and caged somewhere in the wilds. They unleashed him every Sunday and pointed him toward the opposition and this day they pointed him at me and said, `Kill, Jimmy, kill.' My head came up to his armpit, which was an area I would not have chosen, but there it was all the same, just above my nose.
"`Zinny', I said, `you're not going to play much ball unless you get under this guy and take his legs out'. So with impeccable timing I drove into his legs and on over the touchline and planted him into the Carlaw Park grandstand. He did not die. He got up, shook himself shaggily, grinned amiably, said, `Kill, Jimmy, kill' and came right back into the game.
"It was probably on the strength of that tackle on him that I made the Australasian team, an achievement no one seems especially interested in conveying to the Hall of Fame. Playing Gaelic and Aussie Rules added up in a way to the sort of rugby player I am. In Gaelic, especially, the demands were for sharp hand-eye co-ordination, ambidextrous skills, kicking for the natural arc off left foot and right. Were I an Irishman I'd play Gaelic football till the day I dropped dead." The GAA were actually going to invite Brooke to visit Croke Park today but were informed that he normally rests on the eve of a match. "We'd love to have him as our guest some other time," said the GAA's Pat Daly.
