Utiku to play for lost mate

The Utiku Old Boys senior rugby team will have real purpose when they take to the field against Kaierau in Wanganui on Saturday - they have dedicated the match to teammate Hamish Allan who died in a house fire on Saturday night.

The 28-year-old farm worker was a pivotal player in the Utiku team and had earlier that day been named man of the match against Pirates on the Wanganui Racecourse.

Utiku club president Barry Thomas said Allan's death was a huge blow to the club.

"Hamish had only been with the club this season, but he was a bloody good bloke and a very good player.

"He was our hooker, but he won man of the match against Pirates last Saturday when playing blindside flanker. His death is a huge blow - Hamish will be sadly missed," Thomas said yesterday.

"We had initially thought about postponing this weekend's match to allow teammates and club members to attend his funeral, but now that the funeral is at 1pm on Thursday in Gisborne, we have decided to go ahead and dedicate the match to Hamish.

"There are quite a few teammates and club members wanting to go to the funeral, so we'll probably have a few van loads heading to Gisborne."

Allan was an all-round sportsman and had represented Poverty Bay/East Coast in junior golf.

The Utiku senior team are sitting near the bottom of the table with two wins and four losses and will play Kaierau at the Kaierau Country Club on Saturday.

Allan died when fire engulfed the Mickleson's Rd home he shared with his partner at Utiku near Taihape about 10.30pm on Saturday. Allan's partner managed to escape after being woken by a passer-by who returned for Allan, but unfortunately was turned back by the flames. The couple were recently engaged.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing.