Boult from the blue

Union standout Adam Boult has been selected for the NZ Under 18 Mixed touch rugby team to play Australia.

He has been a local star of rugby union, but Cullinane College's Adam Boult has managed to turn his summer training into his first national honours after being selected in the NZ Touch Under 18 mixed squad to play Australia.

A 17-year-old who has been an age grade Wanganui rugby representative and Hurricanes training camp attendee, Boult switched away from playing cricket during summers, where he also represented Wanganui, to focus on touch rugby as a means of staying sharp for the winter game.

It led to an invitation for the national trial in Auckland during the second week of the school holidays, where players from around the country took part in drills and then pick-up games.

Boult was delighted with his surprise selection to play Australia in the test series this coming January.

"I basically just played touch for fitness and developing skills."

He plays for his Cullinane school team in the summer, and also made the local representative under 17 side.

Cullinane rugby coach Hayden Hepburn, who helped get Boult in condition for touch, said the New Zealand selectors judge players of three aspects - defence, attack, and physical strength.

"They're ranked and scored on their testing results.

"Out of those three [areas], Adam can control one of those three - the physical. He can develop the others.

"The kid sort of started working hard on the physical aspect of his rugby, which made it easy to transfer into touch."

Hepburn said the school incorporated touch among their official summer sports in 2012, and Boult had made the decision around 2014 to set aside his cricket.

To accommodate his talents even further, an interschool agreement was made for Boult to play in the Whanganui High School 1st XV this winter, and that team qualified for the final of 2016 Manawatu Colts competition, suffering the closest of defeats to perennial champions Massey White.

Boult was a standout at fullback.

In touch rugby, he prefers to be positioned in the middle of the pitch, acting as the "link" player.

He also hopes the New Zealand team can overcome the dominance of the Australians, who have won four of the last five Trans-Tasman series.

"They just said they're the best in the world. Fast, never stop," Boult said.

The teenager will be attending Massey University next year, undertaking a degree in sports management.

Despite his national touch honours, rugby union will remain his primary focus going forward.