Lure of France sees Rico hit top gear | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Having to advertise yourself for World Cup selection in Super 14 is all positive, says Crusaders wing Rico Gear.

Super rugby's 2005 top try-scorer scored two tries with ?lan against the Stormers last week to remind Graham Henry he's in the frame for France.

Knowing All Black spots are at stake in Super 14 is a positive thing, says Gear.

It gave players extra motivation.

"We know we really have to express ourselves and really perform during this competition, so if anything it gets us excited from week to week, which hopefully brings the best out of us."

Last week's two tries showed all Gear's pace and eye for the chance ? and a black jersey isn't his only incentive.

He and Scott Hamilton are joint top try scorers with four ? but No.8 Mose Tuiali'i is only one behind them.

"I've told Scotty, don't pass it to Mose. We don't want to give him too many or he'll start giving us a hard time!" he joked.

Gear said his brace came from "the boys making really good decisions."

The Crusaders backs were trying to keep it simple and to be accurate, he said.

"And I think we certainly went a way to achieving that last Saturday. Not over complicating back moves, just really simple one-pass moves, just carrying really hard and recycling the ball quickly. Just keeping it like that and working off that."

And that was the way to play tomorrow night in Sydney against the Waratahs, he said.

"They have a defensive system where they do tend to drift at times, so we don't need to be complicated, and to just carry back hard against what they're doing and try to get in behind them and recycle good ball."

And if you want another reason for Gear to shine in Sydney, it's because he has "heaps" of mates and relatives there.

His phone ran hot this week with requests for tickets.

The 'Tahs may be second-bottom a point ahead of the pale Reds, but Gear said they know what it's like to win and how to compete against a side like the Crusaders.

"So we're expecting an extremely tough match.

"I'm not sure if they can turn their season around now, but they can turn a game like this around."

After a couple of phases the Waratahs tended to be getting a little bit unsure of where they were heading and may be they were relying on certain individuals just a little bit, he said. Looking at their body language at times, you could see they were down collectively.

It was back to old times last weekend as the conditioning All Blacks returned, and Gear said he thought they performed extremely well for first game back.

"I know Leon's lungs were burning a bit at times ? I could hear him panting away! It's just going to take a one or two games and they'll be right back up there."

The six had brought a lot of enthusiasm, and with their first match behind them the team should do well this week, he said.