Young players from many parts of the rugby world continue to add depth and colour to the Baywide Premier competition through the Inside Running Academy.
Since 2010 most clubs have enjoyed the benefits of the diverse group of players at Premier and Development levels. This season there are 29 from 10 countries involved from four to 46 weeks at the top-class academy based at The Athlete Factory in Aerodrome Rd.
On Anzac Day the Inside Running players gave back to the community by putting in a hard day's graft in Edgecumbe to help with the flood relief. The day's work followed the first attendance for them at the Mount Maunganui Anzac Day dawn service.
Among those who stripped a flood-ravaged house in Edgecumbe were two of the six players and one coach from the Winter Rise Rugby Club in East London on South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Prop Luvo Bazi, 20, and wing/fullback Luxolo Jingqi, 22, are living the dream, learning everything they can about rugby in New Zealand.
They come from Mdantsane, the second largest township in South Africa after Soweto where they say life is hard and it can be a dangerous place. It took a total community fundraising effort over six months to get them here. Inside Running offered scholarships to help reduce the costs.
Helping the people of Edgecumbe was a real eye-opener for both players.
"What I will take back to South Africa is when we went and helped the people during that disaster. You don't find that in Mdantsane. You can see lots of people where the houses are burnt but you never think of going to assist them with anything," Luvo said.
"It shows wherever you come from you can do something special for another person. Here in New Zealand I like the people mostly. That experience in [Edgecumbe] is a huge thing I will take back."
Luvo said learning to eat properly and training hard had meant he had dropped kilos and was playing his best rugby.
"At home you know you are an athlete but you don't have the resources to have balanced healthy food and coaches to assist you. These things are new to us."
The South Africans love being part of the club culture at Rangataua Sports and Greerton Marist.
"The support and the warm hospitality has been a huge difference. They don't care who you, are they just treat you warmly," Luvo said, who plays for Greerton Marist Development.
Luxolo is having just as good a time based at Rangataua and recently scored the winning try in a crucial win over Te Puke Sports.
"When I go back I am taking what the trainers and [Inside Running rugby coach] Mike Rogers have taught me and how to be a better person in the future," Luxolo said.
"I have found the experience quite exciting and overwhelming. It is a different style of rugby, much faster and much more explosive which suits how I would like to play rugby.
"At the moment we are top of the table so everything is great," he said with a trademark grin.
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