Little Pirates meet Hurricanes heroes

HERO MEETING: Hurricanes Callum Gibbins and Beauden Barrett with the Pirates under-8s after their training session in Wellington yesterday.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

The 20 children of the Pirates Rugby Club's under-8s got the ultimate in a Thursday afternoon training session as they were put through their paces by the Hurricanes players at Newtown's Rugby League Park.

The team of Whanganui youngsters had been randomly drawn as the winners of the PlaceMakers Super Footy Skills competition " where five lucky schools or club teams get a one-hour session with players from their regional Investec Super Rugby team.

Leaving in the early hours and arriving in southern Wellington after lunchtime, the Pirates players were given lessons on ball handling, kicking and tackling by eight professional players, led by All Black Beauden Barrett.

"He was one of the main ones with the kids," said Pirates manager Rob Roy. "They had eight Hurricanes doing the training with 20 kids.

"They said 'there will be at least three', so to get that [many] was wicked. Just seeing [kids'] reaction."

The children were also given PlaceMakers T-shirts and balls they can take back to their club.

While they were busy with another promotion, other Hurricanes stars like Victor Vito, Ardie Savea and Corey Jane still came over to meet the kids.

Roy said the children were taken on a tour of the training facilities, which was a big buzz to see the dressing and gear rooms.

After that, it was back in the vans for the trip home, stopping in Levin for pizza.

Roy said the players would want to put practice out on the pitch for their game tomorrow.

Gary Woodhouse, PlaceMakers general manager of operations and marketing, said the opportunity to leverage their sponsorship in a way that benefited local communities was a vital part of the Super Rugby partnership.

"Our strong relationships with the communities our stores are based in is something we are very proud of as a business.

"The chance to connect everyday rugby players from local schools and clubs with some of the best players in the country, if not the world, is terrific."