We all know young Northland rugby players are often poached down to Auckland, but there is always a sense of pride when they achieve.
Three Northland boys - who are schooled in Auckland - were part of the 26-man New Zealand Secondary Schools' squad, who played Fiji, Australia A, and Australia.
Auckland Grammar School's Akira Ioane, Mt Albert Grammar School's Joshua Goodhue, and St Kentigern College's Dillon Wihongi were all part of the side which lost to Fiji and beat both Australian sides.
Wihongi is a blindside-cum-number eight with Ioane also being a loose-forward, both of whom are formerly of Kaikohe, while lock Goodhue originally hails from Kawakawa.
All three started two matches, with Wihongi and Ioane coming from the bench in the other match. Of the side's matches - a 22-20 loss to Fiji, a 36-0 win over Australia A, and a nail-biting 17-16 win against Australia - the Northlanders made their presence known.
