{"id":14288,"date":"2021-07-28T17:31:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T05:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/?p=14288"},"modified":"2021-07-28T17:40:26","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T05:40:26","slug":"lions-squad-announced-for-bunnings-npc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/07\/28\/lions-squad-announced-for-bunnings-npc\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions Squad Announced for Bunnings NPC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Wellington Lions Head Coach Leo Crowley has named a 35-man squad for the upcoming Bunnings NPC campaign.<\/p>\n

The squad is once again captained by 24-year-old loose forward Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi, who led the side through the 2019 and 2020 seasons.<\/p>\n

Crowley has been impressed with how Kirifi has grown into the leadership role over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a \u2018follow me\u2019 leader, puts his body on the line and expects everyone to follow. He has good support around him from experienced players such as Julian Savea and James Blackwell.<\/p>\n

Now in his second year in charge, Crowley is looking forward to the upcoming campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited with the calibre of players we have; it\u2019s been a tough process selecting but we have come together really well. To go with our experienced campaigners, we have 9 players who are 21 and under, there is plenty of fresh energy and it\u2019s exciting to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additions to the squad include new signings Dominic Bird, Richard Judd and former Wallaby Pekahou Cowan.<\/p>\n

The squad features four players in the All Blacks squad, to go along with 19 Super Rugby players from the 2021 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Super Rugby players have had a longer break this year, last year they only had 2 weeks. They have come back with plenty of energy and are looking forward to getting started. Everyone in the squad is expected to add value.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving players like Josh Southall, Keelan Whitman and Iona Apineru join us from the academy is extra special as they get to link up with previous academy players who came into the squad last year like Caleb Delany and Taine Plumtree.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also one new addition to the coaching team, with former Hurricane Paul Tito joining the coaching lineup alongside Crowley, Greg Halford and Tamati Ellison. Tito played 84 games for the Hurricanes and has returned to New Zealand after most recently being the forwards coach at Pau in France.<\/p>\n

The Lions will commence their Premiership competition firstly against Northland at Sky Stadium on August 7 at 2:05PM.<\/p>\n

The squad is as follows (* denotes uncapped)<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Tomasi Alosio<\/li>\n
  2. Iona Apineru *<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. Fraser Armstrong *<\/strong><\/li>\n
  4. Vince Aso<\/li>\n
  5. Asafo Aumua<\/li>\n
  6. Dominic Bird *<\/strong><\/li>\n
  7. James Blackwell<\/li>\n
  8. Dane Coles<\/li>\n
  9. Connor Collins<\/li>\n
  10. Pekahou Cowan *<\/strong><\/li>\n
  11. Caleb Delany<\/li>\n
  12. Alex Fidow<\/li>\n
  13. Connor Garden-Bachop<\/li>\n
  14. Jackson Garden-Bachop<\/li>\n
  15. Wes Goosen<\/li>\n
  16. Richard Judd *<\/strong><\/li>\n
  17. Bruce Kauika-Petersen<\/li>\n
  18. Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi<\/li>\n
  19. Ruben Love<\/li>\n
  20. Brandyn Laursen<\/li>\n
  21. Aidan Morgan<\/li>\n
  22. Xavier Numia<\/li>\n
  23. James O\u2019Reilly<\/li>\n
  24. Pepesana Patafilo<\/li>\n
  25. TJ Perenara<\/li>\n
  26. Taine Plumtree<\/li>\n
  27. Billy Proctor<\/li>\n
  28. Vincent Sakaria<\/li>\n
  29. Ardie Savea<\/li>\n
  30. Julian Savea<\/li>\n
  31. Sam Smith<\/li>\n
  32. Josh Southall *<\/strong><\/li>\n
  33. Tyrone Thompson<\/li>\n
  34. Peter Umaga-Jensen<\/li>\n
  35. Keelan Whitman *<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Wellington Lions Head Coach Leo Crowley has named a 35-man squad for the upcoming Bunnings NPC campaign. The squad is once again captained by 24-year-old loose forward Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi, who led the side through the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Crowley has been impressed with how Kirifi has grown into the leadership role over the last…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Lions Squad Announced for Bunnings NPC\r\nhttps:\/\/wp.me\/p4wlzH-3Is\r\n\r\nWellington Lions Head Coach Leo Crowley has named a 35-man squad for the upcoming Bunnings NPC campaign.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugbyheartland-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/well1.jpg?fit=750%2C422&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4wlzH-3Is","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12392,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2020\/09\/10\/three-all-blacks-named-in-lions-squad\/","url_meta":{"origin":14288,"position":0},"title":"Three All Blacks named in Lions squad","author":"admin_hland","date":"September 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Three All Blacks have been named in the Wellington Lions squad set to face Waikato at FMG Stadium on Saturday afternoon.Asafo Aumua, TJ Perenara and Ardie Savea are all included in the starting XV hoping to kick off this year\u2019s Mitre 10 Cup campaign with a win.The Lions have only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NPC - National Provincial Championship"","block_context":{"text":"NPC - National Provincial Championship","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/npc-national-provincial-championship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12659,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2020\/10\/15\/lions-name-squad-for-north-harbour-clash-at-sky-stadium\/","url_meta":{"origin":14288,"position":1},"title":"Lions name squad for North Harbour clash at Sky Stadium","author":"admin_hland","date":"October 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Lions team named for clash with North HarbourVince Aso and Naitoa Ah Kuoi will feature in the starting XV as the Wellington Lions get set to take on North Harbour this Saturday.The Lions will be looking to change their luck, following two consecutive losses to Canterbury and then Otago at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NPC - National Provincial Championship"","block_context":{"text":"NPC - National Provincial Championship","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/npc-national-provincial-championship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12465,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2020\/09\/18\/wes-goosen-to-play-50th-game-against-auckland\/","url_meta":{"origin":14288,"position":2},"title":"Wes Goosen to play 50th game against Auckland","author":"admin_hland","date":"September 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Wes Goosen will return from injury to play his 50th game for the Lions in this Sunday\u2019s clash with Auckland at Eden Park. The 24-year-old has been a fixture of the squad since making his debut against Waikato in 2014. Since then, he\u2019s gone on to accumulate 24 tries (120\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NPC - National Provincial Championship"","block_context":{"text":"NPC - National Provincial Championship","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/npc-national-provincial-championship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/csm_Webshot-Lions-2019-Wes-Goosen_8f10628508.png?fit=1084%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/csm_Webshot-Lions-2019-Wes-Goosen_8f10628508.png?fit=1084%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/csm_Webshot-Lions-2019-Wes-Goosen_8f10628508.png?fit=1084%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/csm_Webshot-Lions-2019-Wes-Goosen_8f10628508.png?fit=1084%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/csm_Webshot-Lions-2019-Wes-Goosen_8f10628508.png?fit=1084%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12540,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2020\/09\/23\/lions-name-team-for-first-home-clash-of-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":14288,"position":3},"title":"Lions name team for first home clash of 2020","author":"admin_hland","date":"September 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wellington Lions are gearing up to host Bay of Plenty, in their first Mitre 10 Cup clash at Sky Stadium this year. It\u2019s the first major sporting event in the country to go ahead with the possibility of big crowds since moving back to alert level one on Tuesday.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NPC - National Provincial Championship"","block_context":{"text":"NPC - National Provincial Championship","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/npc-national-provincial-championship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12333,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2020\/09\/02\/wellington-preview-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":14288,"position":4},"title":"WELLINGTON : PREVIEW 2020","author":"admin_hland","date":"September 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Beaten finalists in 2019, the Wellington Lions will be hoping to go one better this year and lift their first overall national title since 2000. Coach:\u00a0Leo Crowley Home ground:\u00a0Sky Stadium 2019:\u00a0Second in Premiership (losing finalist) Talking points Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi returns as captain of the Lions after leading the side to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NPC - National Provincial Championship"","block_context":{"text":"NPC - National Provincial Championship","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/npc-national-provincial-championship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/LionsPreview2020.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/LionsPreview2020.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/LionsPreview2020.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/LionsPreview2020.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/LionsPreview2020.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12817,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2020\/10\/29\/blackwell-fifita-to-bring-up-50-games-against-tasman\/","url_meta":{"origin":14288,"position":5},"title":"Blackwell, Fifita to bring up 50 games against Tasman","author":"admin_hland","date":"October 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"James Blackwell and Vaea Fifita will bring up 50 caps for the Lions, when the team plays Tasman Mako at Porirua Park this weekend. It\u2019s the first time the premiership side has hosted a game away from Athletic Park or Sky Stadium in NPC history. Blackwell, who has been named\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "RugbyHeartland News"","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/lions2020.jpg?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14288"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14290,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14288\/revisions\/14290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}