During his school teaching days at Te Aute College in the late 1990s Simon West taught a cheeky future All Black halfback by the name of Piri Weepu.
Although Weepu, a Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools representative at the time and already showing signs he was a potential first-class player, West never dreamed his son Ihaia, who is eight years younger than Weepu, would play alongside one of Wainuiomata's favourite sporting sons. That could happen tonight should Weepu and West jnr get game time off the bench together for the Blues against the Waratahs in the round 11 Super Rugby clash at Auckland's Eden Park.
"It could have happened on the New Zealand Maori team's tour last year but Piri got injured," West snr explained as he and wife Shona travelled to Auckland yesterday in anticipation of their son getting game time tonight.
He was referring to the fact Weepu was injured before the first of the Maori All Blacks' two games on their North American tour. While West snr, who now teaches at Napier Boys' High School, never envisaged the possibility of a Weepu-West combo, his wife pointed out their son is "living his dream" and has been rewarded for his patience after initially missing Super Rugby selection and spending time training with the Chiefs and playing for the Hurricanes Development team earlier this year.
She added it was an exciting time for the family.