Northland lock Josh Goodhue will captain a strong Blues A side in this weekend’s KFC curtain raiser against the Hurricanes development team.
The side features Rene Ranger at centre, Kara Pryor at openside, and four players who have been named in the New Zealand U20 squad to travel to the Gold Coast next month for the Oceania U20 tournament.
Those players are Caleb Clarke, JP Sauni, Tamati Tua, and Blues U20s captain Dalton Papalii. They will be among eight players from our region looking to impress in matches against Australia, Fiji, and Samoa, ahead of the World Rugby Under 20 Championship in Georgia later this year.
Meanwhile, this weekend’s Blues A game will mark a welcome return to blue for former Blues U18 player D’Angelo Leuila, who earned his first cap for the Samoan national side last year, as well as North Harbour first five-eighth Bryn Gatland, who recently answered a call-up to the Crusaders as injury cover.
Two players currently assembled with the Blues squad as injury cover, Northland prop Namatahi Waa and halfback Richard Judd are named in the run on 15.
The match kicks off at 2:50pm Saturday, ahead of our Investec Super Rugby game against the Western Force at Eden Park, which is at the earlier time of 5:15pm.
Team list:
- Namatahi Waa, Blues
- Hame Faiva, Blues
- Marcel Renata, Auckland
- Josh Goodhue (c), Blues
- Brandon Nansen, Blues
- Dalton Papalii, Auckland
- Kara Pryor, Blues
- Hapakuki Moala-Liava’a, North Harbour
- Richard Judd, Blues
- Bryn Gatland, North Harbour
- Caleb Clarke, Auckland
- Matt Vaega, Blues
- Rene Ranger, Blues
- Jordan Hyland, Northland
- Jordan Trainor, Blues
- JP Sauni, Auckland
- Emerson Tamura-Paki, Auckland
- Afi Ielemia, Auckland
- Glen Preston, North Harbour
- Connor Collett, North Harbour
- Lisati Milo-Harris, Auckland
- D’Angelo Leuila, Auckland
- Tamati Tua, Auckland
- Salesi Rayasi, Auckland
- Epineri (Ratu) Uluiviti, Northland
**UPDATE (31/3/17): Joe Royal replaces Hame Faiva; Glen Preston (6) replaces Kara Pryor and Dalton Papalii moves to 7
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