Nerves were getting the better of new Hawke's Bay Tuis rugby lock Charlie Hoggard yesterday.
They had nothing to do with the Napier Girls' High School year 12 student awaiting her New Zealand Rugby Union under age clearance which was received as the Tuis assembled at Hawke's Bay Airport to prepare for their flight to Auckland last night before taking on North Harbour in a fourth round Farah Palmer Cup clash at QEB Stadium today. "It's a televised game and I'm quite scared," the humble Hoggard explained.
Although a little frightened, Hoggard was also thrilled and described her selection as a belated birthday present in the wake of her 17th on Monday. All players under 18 have to receive clearance from the national body before taking the field.
Being one of just four reserves because of a high injury tally, Hoggard, can expect plenty of game time against Harbour. She deserves the opportunity as she has made rapid progress since taking up rugby in her first year as a boarder at NGHS.
For the past two seasons she has been a member of the Hawke's Bay under-18 girls team. She played in last weekend's 29-12 win against Manawatu but missed the previous week's win against Poverty Bay because of injury.
Hoggard, who dropped her netball pursuits to focus solely on rugby this winter, scored a try during her Clive team's 23-7 win against Taradale in the Hawke's Bay women's championship final in July and at the Clive club's prizegiving received the award for the team's best under-21 player. She lauded the work put in over the years by the Clive team's coaching staff headed by former Tui Te Maari MacGregor and her NGHS coaches Arthur Brown and Spencer Bethell.