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Under 18 Māori rugby

By Isaac Turoa | Posted: Wednesday October 16, 2024

On Wednesday, 2 October I flew to Hamilton to start my campaign with the U18 NZ Māori rugby team.

This campaign went for 9 days. Our days always started with waking up at 6:15am to do what we call a hui te marama. This is when we would get in a circle and bind arms and start off by doing three big deep breaths. We would then go around the circle and say how we were feeling (wairua check in) from a scale of 1 to 5.

The days were long and would consist of learning about something relevant to Māori e.g the haka, Māori history, rako etc, and also rugby training. My favourite part of the camp was getting to know all the new people from my culture. There were boys from all over the country and our group became as close as brothers.

Although we were there for a rugby camp, the coaches and staff made it clear that this campaign was not just about rugby, It was about making strong connections and bringing us closer to our culture, to look out for one and other and most importantly just to enjoy it.

We played two games. Our first game was against Heartland U20, and we got the win comfortably. This was our first game as a group, and it was clear that we had great potential which gave us confidence going into our second game against New Zealand Schools. The week leading into this game was full on and all the boys wanted this win badly which only brought us closer together. We ended up beating New Zealand Schools 22-15 which is the first time the Māori U18 rugby team have beaten the New Zealand schools’ team ever! I think the fact that our team was so close as a group it gave us the edge and is what helped us get the win. We were playing for each other because we sensed how bad we wanted it.

I am very grateful and proud for the opportunity I was given. To not only be part of something that will forever be engraved in history but also because I have learnt so much more about my culture and who I am as a person. It is something I will never forget. 

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