Wanganui old boys in Chiefs squad

Two former Wanganui Meads Cup champions have been named in the Chiefs Super 15 rugby squad for next season.

Aseli Tikoirotuma (ex-Marist) and Michael FitzGerald (ex-Pirates), members of the Wanganui Heartland champion side of 2008, were yesterday included in the Chiefs for 2012.

The pair, both now with the Te Kawau club, have been playing for Manawatu, runners-up in the second-tier ITM Cup this season under Dave Rennie, the new Chiefs coach.

Winger Tikoirotuma, 25, who made his last appearance for Wanganui as a loan player in a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Southland in 2010, has been a Manawatu rep for the past two seasons. He played 39 games for Wanganui from 2005, winning Meads Cup gold medals in 2008 and 2009, and silvers in 2006 and 2007. He scored 24 tries, 21 of them in Heartland rugby, including nine during the inaugural 2006 season.

Should he play in next season's Super 15, Tikoirotuma will have some very talented backs alongside him, including All Blacks Brendon Leonard, Aaron Cruden, Richard Kahui and Sonny Bill Williams.

Lock FitzGerald, 24, has been a Manawatu rep for three seasons. He had 23 games for Wanganui between 2005 and 2008, scoring six tries in his final season as part of that year's Meads Cup champions, and was in the side that was second to Wairarapa-Bush in 2006.

His younger brother Daniel, 19, made an impressive Heartland debut for Wanganui as a Player of Origin this year, winning Meads Cup gold. He also plays for Te Kawau.