The Whanganui Barbarians start their five-match campaign in Tūrangi.
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It’s a new name and a chance to imprint a fresh culture as the McFall Fuel Whanganui Barbarians kick off their five-match campaign in Tūrangi on Saturday.
Formerly the Whanganui Development XV, the squad rebranding has followed the trend of other neighbouring unions giving their senior representative B teams a more distinctive name.
Last year, the Development XV went comfortably unbeaten in their first three fixtures, but narrowly lost to the Wairarapa Bush Barbarians in Masterton due to being reduced to a bare 15 players.
Part of the reason for late-season personnel issues was that some veteran club players and others around the Steelform Whanganui Heartland team, but not currently part of that mix, felt the “Development” tag no longer applied to them.
Barbarians rugby, which emphasises team culture and enjoyable social connections, might make taking part a more attractive prospect, while still fulfilling the requirement of being the back-up squad for Heartland.
“It just gives that different opportunity to start something new,” returning coach Danny Tamehana said.
“We’re not really there to ‘develop’, we’re there to encourage them to play for that top team, as opposed to trying to train players, so to speak.”
Tamehana is working with an invited group of around 25, who can be joined for fixtures by Whanganui senior squad members not required on specific Heartland weekends.
“There’s a lot of new faces, a lot of B [Tasman Tanning Senior] players,” he said.
“It’s nice, the freshness, they’re really energetic and happy to learn and go hard.”
The strongest representation is the Senior division title-winning Forest 360 Marist Knights, which is vital for those players to reach a higher level as they prepare to join the Tasman Tanning Premier in 2026.
Knights prop Raponi Tofa was in the Development team last year, while fullback Joey Devine and loose forward Brandon Burberry have a chance to push for higher honours.
Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau flanker Stuart Brosnahan was one of the 2024 captains, while the side has the three quick Fijian outside backs from Waverley Harvesting Border in Peni Waqatabu, Silio Waqalevu and Rusiate Lalanabaravi.
“I think we’re a little bit light in the backs, to be honest, being predominantly forwards, but it’s exciting to work with different people,” Tamehana said.
Kickoff in Tūrangi is 1pm.
A new and younger generation of Summit Electrical Whanganui Under-20s players will attempt to regain the reputation for strong performances in the Hurricanes Youth Council U20s tournament, starting with the frontrunners on Saturday.
The Hurricanes Youth Council (HYC) tournament is played over three rounds across two weekends, as Whanganui go on the road to Masterton’s Memorial Park to face two-time defending champions Wairarapa Bush.
Next weekend, the competition returns to the Bulls RFC club where Whanganui play 2024 runners-up Poverty Bay on Saturday, August 9, followed by Horowhenua-Kāpiti on Sunday.
Returning coach Todd Cowan was choosing his final squad for the Wairarapa Bush game midweek from the extended group of 33 who started training after the end of the club season.
Last year, Whanganui were in the unusual position of going winless, while Wairarapa Bush swept their games as their union had worked hard to develop this group of players, with some other chargers likely coming up from their 2024 U18 team, who finished runner-up in the HYC U18s B Division.
“It will be interesting, obviously Wairarapa Bush were top seed last year,” Cowan said about his side’s prospects.
“It’s been promising the last couple of trainings – we’re going to be using some young guys.”
Six members of Cowan’s squad are still age eligible to play for the Whanganui U18 squad in their HYC tournament in September.
The returning 2024 U20 players are Jeff Dorset, Indiana Ratana, Mat Hammond, Jayden Lower and Akiwa Koro, with Lower and Koro in their third year.
“It’s a good mixture, we’ve got a few players from most of the clubs and there’s a lot of talent there,” Cowan said.
He expected them to be adaptable to playing games on back-to-back days on the August 9-10 weekend, as well as this Saturday on Memorial Park’s unique artificial turf with its faster speed and higher ball bounce.
“Looking at the weather forecast next couple of days, the all-weather ground might not be so bad.”
Kickoff is at 12.30pm.