The naming of new caps Waisake Naholo and Nehe Milner-Skudder in the 41-strong All Blacks squad have ties to Wanganui rugby.
Naholo (Highlanders) started his representative career in Wanganui and Milner-Skudder (Hurricanes) is a relation of former Wanganui All Black the late Henare (Buff) Milner.
Both Naholo and Milner-Skudder were in neighbouring
Wanganui union champion ITM provincial teams last season - Naholo in the Taranaki premier winning side and Milner-Skudder for champion cup (second tier) winners Manawatu.
Naholo has been jn tremendous form for the Highlanders this year, his 11 tries breaking Stu Wilson's 1998 franchise record. The 24-year-old Fijian made his first-class debut for Wanganui in 2009, scoring six tries while still at Wanganui City College in helping the Butcher Boys win the Heartland Meads Cup championship.
He went on to represent Taranaki, was in the Hurricanes extended squad before making his Super Rugby debut for Auckland and then switched to the Highlanders. Naholo, who played for the NZ Under-20s in 2011 and for NZ Sevens in 2012-13-14, has been released from a French club contract to enable him to play for the All Blacks.
Milner-Skudder has an All Black pedigree - he is related to both Buff Milner, an All Black utility back to South Africa in 1970 while playing for Waiouru and the Wanganui reps (he also repped for East Coast and Counties) and to 1969-1973 Waikato All Black pacy winger George Skudder.
Naholo becomes the 13th player to play for Wanganui and to later become an All Black.
The most recent have been Bruce Watt (1962-64), Glenn Osborne (1995-96) and Chris Masoe (2005-07).
!!!!=!!=!!=
White caps rolling over the Spriggens Park "lake" helped lead to the inevitable decision to cancel all Wanganui rugby last Saturday - one of the few times this has happened in the River City in recent years.
The eventual cancellation of all rugby in the union came late in the morning when news filtered through that all fields were fast becoming affected by the continual rain and that many of the roads were closed, making it almost impossible for travelling teams.
Two Ratana games had already been switched to the Wanganui Racecourse because Ratana was flooded and then there was a major road slip on the Ratana Hill.
Roadway slips in the Waitotara Valley meant that the Ngamatapouri seniors were making plans to fly players to Kaiwhaiki for a scheduled game against Ruapehu at McNab Domain and coupled with this came news of road closures involving Ruapehu's scheduled travel arrangements.
Toss in the closure of the highway to Waverley, which affected travel plans for two Pirates teams away to play Border, and the WRFU's Council of Clubs had no option but to cancel all Tasman Tanning-sponsored afternoon club fixtures in the union.
With Springvale Park covered in puddles of water and most school fields also affected all junior and college rugby had been called off earlier in the day.
Last weekend's premier fixtures - Waverley Harvesting Border v Integrity Motors Pirates at Waverley, PGG Wrightsons/Ballance Taihape v McCarthy's Transport Ruapehui at Taihape (for the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield), Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist v Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau in Wanganui, and Harvey Round Motors Ratana v Utiku OB at Ratana or in Wanganui - will now be played this coming Saturday.
It was to have been a spare Saturday because Steelorm Wanganui is playing Wairarapa-Bush in a non-first class rep game at the Institute in Palmerston North tonight.
The Council of Clubs is making a decision on last weekend's washed out senior grade games.
!
The eight Wanganui premier teams face just four more weeks of second round qualifying matches before the semi-finals on July 24.
Important games facing the play-off contenders before the semis, with first round results in brackets, are -
June 27 - Pirates v Border at Waverley (26-5 to Pirates), Taihape v Ruapehu at Taihape (25-23 to Taihape).
July 4 - Utiku OB v Border at Taihape (22-18 to Border).
July 11 - Ruapehu v Utiku OB at Ohakune (34-31 to Utiku).
July 18 - Border v Taihape at Waverley (15-12 to Border) and Utiku v Pirates at Taihape (50-29 to Pirates).
They are six key games that will whittle the championship contenders down from five to four and also sort out the semi-final match venues.
Ratana, Kaierau and Marist could possibly spring an odd upset but on current form look destined for semis in the Ben Pedley Cup consolation alongside the fifth-placed championship side.
!
Three players reached a century of points during the first round of the senior club competition which is now split into Top Six and Bottom Eight categories.
Josh Marwick (Pirates) scored 134 points in the 13 weeks of qualifying, Zane Robinson (Marist Celtic) 118 and Izzy Baleitavuku (Ngamatapouri) 100.
Marwick managed 105 points last season whenTyrone Albert (Border) was the leading points scorer with 144 pts. Albert has 63 senior points this season but has also played a few premier matches.
Baleitavuku, named in the early Wanganui rep squad, topped the try scoring in the senior first round with 13 tries. Neihana Parkes (Tech) was the top senior try scorer last winter with 17 tries, the same number that Xavier Halpins scored for Kaierau in 2013.
Marwick has kicked 120 points this year and is the current top goal-kicker with 14 successful penalty goals and 39 conversions.
Top try scoring team in the first round was Ruapehu with 75, 10 more than Ngamatapouri, with defending champions Hunterville on 62 and Marist Celtic 61. Ruapehu has conceded the least tries - 11 - five fewer than Ngamatapouri and Hunterville.
Ruapehu and Ngamatapouri each won two games by default and Hunterville one.
Senior club stats after the first round of 13 weeks of matches -
Individual points - 145 Josh Marwick (Pirates), 118 Zane Robinson (Celtic), 100 Izzy Baleitavuku (Ngamatapouri), 92 Hamish Harding (Hunterville), 80 Barry Muir (Tech), 63 Tyrone Albert (Border), 59 Ngatu Bates (Marton), 57 Bronson Tuvai (Celtic), 55 Kane Low (Ruapehu), 52 Scott Parkes (Hunterville), 50 Timoli Seruwala (Ngamatapouri), Rix Seduadua (Pirates) and Quaide Ponga (Ruapehu), 48 Ben Aiken(Ngamatapouri), 45 Jamie Brett (Hunterville) and Bryn Hudson (Ngamatapouri), 44 Fili Iosefu (Marton), 40 Jordan Stayt (Hunterville) and Neihana Parkes (Tech).
Goal-kicking - 120 pts Marwick, 83 Robinson, 82 Harding, 55 Muir, 43 Albert.
Individual try scoring - 13 Baleitavuku, 11 Low, 10 Seruwala, Seduadua and Ponga, 9 Tumai, Brett and Hudson, 8 Stayt and Parkes, 7 Robinson, Tawhia Gupwell (Ruapehui), Phil Hamahona (Marton), Sam Kilmister, Nick Tipling and Robinson (Hunterville), 6 Conrad Tui (Celtic), Myrin Kumeroa (Counties), Bates, Joseph Guilfod(Kaierau) and T A Whareaiti (Ratana).
Team tries - For: 75 Ruapehu, 65 Ngamatapouri, 62 Hunterville, 61 Celtic, 55 Marton, 50 Pirates, 46 Tech, 36 Taihape, 32 Counties, 29 Buffalo's, 27 Kaierau, 26 Ratana, 21 Border and 12 Utiku OB. Conceded: 11 Ruapehu, 16 Hunterville and Ngamatapouri, 27 Marton, 28 Celtic, 32 Pirates, 33 Tech, 43 Kaierau, 44 Counties, 52 Taihape, 59 Border, 60 Utiku OB, 81 Buffalo's, 93 Ratana.
With Kaierau's Ace Malo suffering a broken arm and out for the rest of the club season, Border first five Jack Lupton now holds a handy 25 pt advantage over his rivals in the Wanganui premier grade individual points scoring.
Border has provided the leading points scorer for the past three years - Mark Davis in 2012 (158) and 2013 (155) and Bobo Ulukuta last season (190).
Lupton (two tries, 12 penalty goals and 25 conversions) has 96 points and Malo, No 1 in 2011 with 198 pts, has 86 pts. Taylor Transom (Taihape) and Ricky Alabaster (Utiku OB) each have 71 pts.
Lupton (86) leads Alabater (71) and Malo (66) in goal-kicking.
Utiku provides the top two try scorers with fullback Michael Nabuliwaqa on 11 and No8 Malakai Volou on 18.
Latest premier club stats -
Individual points - 96 Jack Lupton (Border), 86 Ace Malo (Kaierau), 71 Ricky Alabaster (Utiku OB) and Taylor Transom (Taihape), 68 Zyon Hekenui (Ruapehu), 67 Denning Tyrell (Pirates), 55 Grayson Tihema (Marist) and Michael Nabuliwaqa (Utiku OB), 50 Malakai Volou (Utiku OB), 40 Kieran Hussey (Border) and S'aena Vili (Pirates).
Goal-kicking - 86 pts Lupton, 71 Alabaster, 66 Malo, 58 Hekenui, 50 Tihema, 47 Tyrell, 46 Transom.
Individual tries - 11 Nabuliwaqa, 10 Volou, 8 Hussey and Vili, 7 Troy Brown (Ruapehu), 6 Clive Stowers (Pirates), Jaye Flaws and Paora McCarthy (Taihape), 5 Lindsay Horrocks and Poasa Waqanibau (Border), Hoani Pahl-Long and Karl Pascoe (Kaierau), Lasa Ulukuta and Brett Turner (Pirates), Jamie Hughes (Ratana), Tayor Transom and Johnson Hiroa (Taihape) and Samu Kubunavanua (Utiku OB). Team tries - For: 45 Pirates, 43 Utiku OB, 42 Border and Taihape), 33 Kaierau and Ruapehu, 28 Marist), 17 Ratana. Conceded: 17 Border, 20 Taihape, 24 Pirates, 28 Ruapehu, 43 Utiku OB, 46 Ratana, 51 Kaierau, 54.