Rugby: Northland nine in rep squad

The Northland boys who were selected in the Central Te Hiku O Te Ika Maori boys' under-18 team.

Nine Northland Maori rugby players who went to a training camp over the weekend were selected for the Central Te Hiku O Te Ika Maori boys' under-18 team.

The group, led by New Zealand rugby legend Eric Rush, were at the Mangakotukutuku campus in Glenview for the three-day camp which started on Friday.

It was designed to provide a quality environment for player growth, profile and identify players and pathways, support development, and select a Central Te Hiku O Te Ika Maori boys' under-18 team.

The camp covered all aspects of rugby, including nutrition, individual skills training for forwards and backs, and mental skills training.

Five players from Kaeo, namely Rush's sons Brady and Robert, together with Wiremu Kakarana, Liam Colley, and Troy Hughes, were among the nine Northland players who were selected.

Others included Judah Andrews and Paora Allen from Whangarei, and Sadius Cook-Savage and John Cooper from Kaikohe.

Rush said a squad of 30 players was picked which would be trimmed to 25.

In July, the Central Te Hiku O Te Ika Maori boys', Wellington and South Island teams will play against each other and a New Zealand U18 Maori team will be selected.

Rush said the selection of Northland boys was a good achievement and showed that Northland Rugby Union's rugby development officers picked the right players for the training camp. Forty-seven players from Taupo north took part in the training camp. "In the fitness testing, four of our boys were in the top four," Rush said.

The training camp came about after the New Zealand Rugby Union requested NRU to identify Maori U18 players in Northland for the weekend trial.

"These training camps are a pathway for Maori players to get into top-level rugby. The key from here on is to keep them playing because interest in rugby at this age tends to drop," Rush said.

The representative team was chosen from a trial game on Sunday.