RUGBY - In at the deep end and just loving it

It is a moment in time Derek Carpenter is unlikely to forget in a hurry.
But as a way of getting his representative rugby stripes, it might be as good as it gets.
The 20-year-old midfield back thought he was part of the Northland rugby team purely for development purposes, there to pick up a few tricks before things got really serious in the next year or two.
But when a pre-match social function in Napier six weeks ago was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder from coach Mark Anscombe with the message "Holwell's out, you're in," he wasn't quite sure how to react.
"The team was out doing a bit of mini-putt golf and the coach came along at about 10am and said `Dooley's out, you're in'. I was straight away going through all the moves in my head and then got back to hotel, and got the playbook out and was writing down moves and talking to the halfback and to Gus [Justin Collins]," he said.
"Shocked is one word for it, it was like, whoa, okay then," he said.
The tricky bit was that Carpenter had been chucked in at the deep end, named at first five eighths and expected to suddenly orchestrate proceedings on debut.
So when he got another chance three weeks later in his preferred No12 jersey, the nerves were a lot more settled. The thing is, Carpenter is revelling in the whole escapade, because he still can't quite believe he is playing Air NZ Cup provincial rugby barely two years out of high school.
It is about to get real serious now though.
Northland meets North Harbour at Albany on Sunday in the knowledge a win will suddenly revive an unlikely bid for a quarter-finals berth. And Carpenter is now looming as a critical cog in the backline after a notable performance against Canterbury last week.
"I didn't really expect to be starting at all this year but you kept working hard and hoping. My chance came and I took it, but it was pretty hard work. But I took it when the chance came, which is an awesome feeling," he said.
"After getting handed the No10 jersey for my first game definitely getting the start at No12 was better. That's my position and just getting the chance to put that jersey on was awesome when that came my way.
"Hopefully, now I can perform well there."
It seems as if Carpenter is now rated as the ideal partner to his Mid Northern clubmate Holwell at the tactical end of the backline.
Their combination unlocked the key to the formidable Canterbury backline defence and is being rated as a key to Northland's hopes on Sunday.
Either way, Carpenter is revelling in his new-found status as starting player, and is eyeing up North Harbour.
"The Canterbury game was an awesome game. I was pretty nervous because the guy I was marking - Tim Bateman - was in the NZ Maoris and is a pretty good player, but we sort of held them out there. The defence worked well enough, although that is the part of my game I have to work on."