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All Blacks jersey presented to USC
Rugby union heavyweight New Zealand is taking nothing for granted in its build-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.
And that includes thanking University of the Sunshine Coast for allowing sports scientist and senior lecturer Dr Mark Sayers to be part of the All Blacks management team in its quest for rugby’s Holy Grail in September.
Dr Sayers today presented USC Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Thomas with a signed All Blacks jersey on Thursday on behalf of the team, along with a letter of appreciation from All Blacks manager Darren Shand.
The sought-after sports biomechanist has had a stellar career in rugby, including working for three different international teams as well as with the ACT Brumbies when they became the Super 12 Rugby champions.
Dr Sayers was a member of the ACT Brumbies coaching staff from 1999-2003. During this time, he also worked as a biomechanist for the All Blacks from 2000-2001, for the Wallabies from 2001-2002 and for the Italian Rugby team at the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
He has been the All Blacks biomechanist and New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) national resource coach since 2004. He has just returned from Turkey where he presented three papers at the 6th World Congress on Science and Football.
All the money Dr Sayers receives for his NZRU work has been used to establish a USC research scholarship, which is aimed at furthering research on the biomechanics of rugby.
Currently the scholarship recipient is PhD student Keane Wheeler. Keane plays rugby union for the Sunshine Coast Stingrays team in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition.