By Matthew Brockett
WELLINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuter) - All Black hero Zinzan Brooke aims to add the European Cup to his brimming rugby war chest when he joins English club Harlequins in mid-1998.
The brilliant loose forward this week said he would bow out of New Zealand rugby at the end of 1997, dashing the country's hopes he would make the 1999 World Cup.
But Brooke said he still had a lot to achieve in the game and his obituary shouldn't be written just yet.
``I'd like to win the European Cup, it would be great to do that,'' the imposing number eight told Reuters in an interview.
``When you've won the ultimate prize in the southern hemisphere it would be fantastic to do the same in the northern hemisphere, to get the double-header.''
Brooke, 32, has captained the Auckland Blues to two successive crowns in the Super 12 -- the southern hemisphere's equivalent of the European Cup, played by club teams from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Brooke's decision to step off the pinnacle to play English club football has shocked rugby-mad New Zealand.
Already a wealthy man through property investment, Brooke said his lucrative two-year contract with Harlequins was not a driving factor.
After 10 years marshalling the best scrum in the world, the time was simply right to move on.
``All Black rugby is the greatest stage you can ever play on, and I wanted to be the one to pull the curtain down,'' he said.
``I felt that this was the right time to do it, when I know that I'm not really going to be available for the World Cup.
``I just felt it was better to give an opportunity to someone else now rather than leaving a gap to be filled in 1998.''
Brooke, one of the best exponents of the modern, expansive style of rugby that sets southern hemisphere teams apart from their northern counterparts, said experienced campaigners from down under could bring a lot to the northern game.
``The games that we play in the Super 12 are superb. Obviously I think they (the northern hemisphere) want to get up to the Super 12 and the international standard.
``And with the amount of experienced players that are going there, I don't see any reason why they can't play the same game,'' he said.
But watching the All Blacks play the 1999 World Cup in Wales will be hard for Brooke to swallow, especially after New Zealand's shock loss to South Africa in the 1995 final.
``It'll be an emotional time, even next year when the All Blacks play for the first time, I'll think I could be playing there,'' he said.
Brooke's last game for New Zealand will probably be the final test of the All Blacks' tour of Britain, against England at Twickenham on December 6.
Copyright © 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights
reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is
expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of
Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in
the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon