Eketahuna loose forward Joss Tua-Davidson has been named skipper of the Wairarapa-Bush Heartland championship rugby team for the 2011 season.
His appointment was confirmed by head coach Mark Rutene as was the decision to make Greytown prop Kurt Simmonds his deputy.
Simmonds actually captained Wairarapa-Bush in 2009 while last year they were
led by the now-retired Carterton hooker Joe Harwood.
Rutene has no doubts that Tua-Davidson has the qualities to make an excellent fist of his new job.
"He's the sort of guy who will lead by example, he's always prepared to do the hard yards and that's the type of role model we want".
Tua-Davidson said he was "very excited" about the prospect of captaining a Wairarapa-Bush squad including a good mix of young and experienced players.
"There's quite a lot of promising new blood there and they all seem keen to prove
themselves, you certainly can't fault their enthusiasm," he said. "And it's rubbing off on the older guys too, everybody is keyed up and looking forward to getting on with it."
While accepting that captaincy brings with it greater responsibilities on and off the field, Tua-Davidson says it won't affect the way he plays the game.
"It's always been pretty much a case of bum up and head down and I can't see anything changing in that respect."
Wairarapa-Bush will play "friendlies" against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Memorial Park on July 23 and Poverty Bay at Gisborne on July 30 before commencing their Heartland championship campaign with a match against Thames Valley at Memorial Park on August 6.
The full Heartland draw for preliminary round matches is: August 6 v Thames Valley in Masterton, August 13 v Mid-Canterbury in Methven, August 20 v Buller in Masterton, August 27 v North Otago in Oamaru, September 3 v East Coast in Ruatoria, September 10 v Poverty Bay in Carterton, September 17 v Horowhenua-Kapiti in Carterton, September 24 v Wanganui in Wanganui.
