'Wiremu' in town next week

CALL ME BILL: The Ngati Porou East Coast rugby union, however, has renamed the Rugby World Cup “Wiremu”. The trophy will visit in Ruatoria and Gisborne next week. NZ Herald picture

STAR winger Nehe Milner-Skudder and assistant All Black coach Wayne Smith will accompany the Rugby World Cup to Ruatoria on Thursday, while the trophy only will be displayed to Gisborne secondary school students on Monday.

The All Black pair and the trophy — nicknamed “Wiremu” by the East Coast Rugby Football Union — will be on show at Ruatoria’s Whakarua Park from 11am for the launch of a rippa rugby tournament.

Milner-Skudder, who is out of action this season with a shoulder injury, has strong Ngati Porou connections. His mother, Henrietta Milner, is the principal of Ngata College.

Milner-Skudder is the nephew of two All Blacks — the late Buff Milner, who toured South Africa with the 1970 All Blacks, and George Skudder, who played against Wales in 1969 and toured Britain and France with Ian Kirkpatrick’s 1972-73 team.

Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union chief executive Marty Davis said the world cup would be displayed at Gisborne Boys’ High, Gisborne Girls’ High, Campion College and Lytton High on Monday.

The trophy could possibly be displayed at other schools and would also be on show at a sponsors’ dinner on Monday night.

Mr Davis said the visit of the cup was not a public tour like the nationwide tour which followed the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but more a tour to reward the rugby community.