Heartland team named for Jock Hobbs Memorial Under 19 Tournament
The Heartland Under 19 team to play in the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under 19 Tournament next week has been named today.
The Heartland Under 19 team is
| Caleb Aldridge | Buller |
| Jaide Barlow | King Country |
| Harvey Blyth | Mid Canterbury |
| Austin Brear | Thames Valley |
| Kohlt Coveny | Wanganui |
| Cruise Dunster | King Country |
| James Gilland | Horowhenua Kapiti |
| Adam Gordon | Wairarapa Bush |
| Shae Gray | Horowhenua Kapiti |
| Logan Hebenton-Prenderville | Wairarapa Bush |
| Patrick Henwood | North Otago |
| Te Huia Kutia | Thames Valley |
| Ben McCarthy | North Otago |
| Tipene Meihana | Ngati Porou East Coast |
| Sam Morison | Wairarapa Bush |
| Jason Myers | Wanganui |
| Raniera Petersen | Wairarapa Bush |
| Toroa Rapana | Horowhenua Kapiti |
| Josh Rauhihi | Horowhenua Kapiti |
| Reeve Satherley | King Country |
| Chase Sheriden | Poverty Bay |
| Oiver Toma | King Country |
| Taniela Wacokecoke | South Canterbury |
| Stanley Wright | Wairarapa Bush |
| Lance Wylie | West Coast |
Horowhenua Kapiti’s Aleni Feagaiga returns as Head Coach of the Heartland team and has selected 25 representatives from across the Heartland Unions.
Three players are returning from the 2018 Jock Hobbs campaign, with Austin Brear (Thames Valley), Jason Myers (Wanganui) and Te Huia Kutia (Thames Valley) all bringing their experience to this year’s squad.
Feagaiga said experience will be invaluable as the team will only have a short time together before taking the field.
“Most of the teams have been training and playing together for a few weeks now, we will arrive in Taupo, have a few trainings and then have to hit the field.
“Having players who have experience at this tournament and know what to expect will good for the whole group,” said Feagaiga.
Experience also comes in the form of Kutia, Logan Hebenton-Prenderville (Wairarapa Bush), Shae Gray (Horowhenua Kapiti) and Cruise Dunster (King Country) who are currently involved in the Mitre 10 Heartland Championship.
“These players are all really proud of their Heartland roots and I know they will be looking forward to representing their clubs and communities. Beyond that, they know this is a real opportunity to perform on a national stage,” said Feagaiga.
The tournament takes place on 8, 11 and 14 September and is part of a week-long event that includes development programmes for the players, parents, coaches and referees which is run on the non-game days. There are position specific workshops with Super Rugby coaches, as well as sessions focusing on player education and life skills.
Tournament details
The tournament is a key calendar event for New Zealand’s emerging young rugby talent and will kick off at Owen Delany Park in Taupō on Sunday 8 September.
A total 400 players from 16 teams will compete – one team from each of the Mitre 10 Cup Provincial Unions, one Auckland development team and one Heartland Unions combined team. Regional seeding tournaments kicked off across the four regions on 18 August, with tournament rankings to be decided on Saturday 1 September after the last round of seeding matches.
At the conclusion of the seeding matches, the teams in each region will be ranked 1-4, with the top two ranked sides in each region going into the top eight of the tournament draw to play for the Graham Mourie Cup, and the third and fourth ranked teams, into the championship eight to contest the Michael Jones Trophy.
Bay of Plenty and Waikato go into the tournament as defending champions of the Graham Mourie Cup and Michael Jones Trophy respectively.
A selection of matches from the final day of the tournament will be screened live on Sky Sports.
