It is a high honour for Waverley’s Todd Cowan that his excellent season continues with appointment to the head coach role of the inaugural NZ Heartland Under 20’s team to play in Hamilton next weekend.

And suiting up in the NZ Heartland jumper will be Taihape’s own Chad Whale, the first-five chosen in the 23-man squad with players from all 12 Heartland unions to take on New Zealand Māori Under 18 Ngā Whatukura at FMG Stadium on October 6th.

Part of the end-of-season fixtures for NZ Maori, NZ Schools, NZ Barbarians and the Under 18 teams of Australia and Samoa, an unexpected gap in the playing scheduled allowed for the creation of a NZ Heartland squad – supported financially by the 12 unions.

Unsurprisingly due to the strong Under 20’s representative programme in the lower North Island, the squad contains ten players from the Heartland Hurricanes U20’s setup and unions.

This includes four from the HYC Heartland Series-winning Wairarapa Bush side, who share the largest player representation along with King Country.

There are three players from Horowhenua-Kapiti, two each from Poverty Bay, Thames Valley and South Country, and one representative from Buller, Mid Canterbury, East Coast, West Coast, North Otago and Whanganui – that being Whale.

Cowan, who coached the Summit Electrical Whanganui Under 20’s and was then assistant coach for the Heartland Hurricanes, being in sole-charge for one of their games this season, continues his growth in by getting to take the reins of the new-look side.

It will be the first national youth team from Heartland since the NZ Heartland U19’s last played in the now disestablished Jock Hobbs Memorial National U19 tournament in 2019.

Cowan’s appointment had been privately known last weekend as names for the squad were chosen from nominations across the Heartland unions.

“Very fortunate for the opportunity, but it’s definitely a credit for NZR for putting it together,” he said at the time.

“For Heartland rugby, it’s the revival of the pathway. It’s a really good initiative and hopefully they continue with it.

“It provides Heartland rugby with a viable option for young people coming forward.

“They don’t all have to leave and go to an academy; they can stay local and play for their clubs.”

Cowan said the squad will assemble together around October 3rd and do “game model training” to prepare for the one-off fixture.

“It is a privilege to be involved with this team and I look forward to the challenge and working alongside the rest of the management team who have all been heavily involved with the game at a grassroots level for many years.”

His assistant will be James White and team manager Ryan Gulbransen, both from King Country.

Whale’s ascension to the squad continues a whirlwind season for the gifted young playmaker – whose older cousin and Steelform Whanganui first-five Dane Whale has played for the senior NZ Heartland XV.

Chad Whale took on the first-five role at Premier club level for Byford’s Readimix Taihape until an early-season head injury kept him on the sidelines until the semifinals.

He was still chosen in the Whanganui Under 20’s, but missed initial selection in the Heartland Hurricanes U20’s after playing for them last year.

Yet injuries in the early games saw Whale slot back into the side and string together a number of strong performances to earn selection as Whanganui’s representative in the national team.

Kickoff against NZ Māori U18 is 12pm on October 6th.
 

By Jared Smith