Horowhenua-Kapiti winger Illisoni Rauhihi dots down in the corner.
Horowhenua-Kapiti winger Illisoni Rauhihi dots down in the corner.
He might be the smallest player in the entire New Zealand provincial rugby competition this season.
But one thing is for certain. Ilisoni Rauhihi is one of the quickest. Weighing in at 65kg - ringing wet - the sheer pace of the 18-year-old winger from a standing start can give the opposition a cold.
Put in perspective, some of the players he runs onto the field with - especially the props - are nearly twice his size. But underestimate him at your peril. He's got gas, real gas.
Rauhihi's electric pace has found many an opposition player grasping at thin air in club rugby this season, form that resulted in his elevation to the Horowhenua-Kāpiti representative team.
His impact at provincial level has been immediate, too, scoring two tries in HK's 59-12 win against Central Hawkes Bay at Playford Park last weekend.
HK coach Chris Wilton had no qualms about naming Rauhihi on the wing again for tomorrow's match against Whanganui at Shannon Domain. He said the youngster had a bright future.
"He is a very exciting player. He has beautiful feet and pace off the mark. He has x-factor coming out his ears and look out if there's a mismatch and he comes up against a tight forward," he said.
"We were very impressed with his club season, but what was also impressive was his fitness, right from pre-season training in December. He beats everyone. He is very, very fit."
As an indication of his natural ability, as a former student at Manawatū College, he came close to breaking the 11-second mark for the 100m in athletics competitions.
While Rauhihi was from a long line of halfbacks - his uncle is former Horowhenua halfback Ronnie Rauhihi - he continues to find himself named on the wing.
Illisoni Rauhihi.
But he said he was happy to play in either position, as long as he was on the field.
"I'd rather be playing rugby than doing nothing," he said.
He was also from a long line of horse riders and jockeys, although he preferred cows and in his younger days spent time working on dairy farms.
These days Rauhihi is a teacher aide at Monrad Intermediate School in Palmerston North, as he pursues a career in the education sector.
Rauhihi said he was looking forward to playing at Shannon Domain tomorrow in front of what was his home crowd.
It was not often that the Shannon ground was afforded a representative match. Coach Wilton was relishing the prospect of playing there, too.
"It should be a good day for the community in Shannon. They are great supporters and very good hosts as well," he said.
Horowhenua-Kapiti perform their haka at Playford Park.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 season was an unusual one for Wilton and the team.
A normal season might see two weeks' training before the start of three pre-season warm-up games, and then a four-week build-up to the Heartland championship, which would see as many as eight games played.
At one stage it looked like there would be no representative matches at all when the Heartland championship was canned due to Covid-19.
But Horowhenua-Kāpiti had managed to salvage some representative matches by working with neighbouring unions, and some silverware should add spice to tomorrow's match with Whanganui.
Up for grabs was for the Bruce Steel Cup, with the visitors current holders of the trophy.
