Touch: Rotorua touch masters among group heading to Touch World Cup in Kuala Lumpur

Steven Wall (left), Shamos Hunter and Ben Page will play touch for the New Zealand 40 Men's team at the Touch World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Photo / Stephen Parker

The world's best touch players are set to congregate in Kuala Lumpur for the Touch World Cup - and among them are a trio of Rotorua men entering the tournament with varying degrees of international experience.

Steven Wall, 41, has been playing in New Zealand sides since 2002, Ben Page, 44, represented England in 2004-2005 before getting the call up for the New Zealand 40 Men's team at the 2015 Touch World Cup and Shamos Hunter, 43, will be pulling on the black singlet for the first time in Kuala Lumpur.

Wall's touch-playing CV is an impressive one. He played for the New Zealand Open Mixed team from 2002-2009, playing in two world cups, two Trans-Tasman Series, a Queensland tour and the All Nations tournament. He played for the New Zealand Mixed Masters from 2013-2015, including one Trans-Tasman Series and one world cup. He has won six New Zealand Mixed titles with Bay of Plenty as well as 10 Māori Mixed National titles.

"The most rewarding for me - there would be two moments. The first would be being selected for New Zealand for the very first time, I remember that very clearly. I never made the youth teams because I was always three months too old, so I actually thought I was never going to make it," Wall said.

"The other moment was winning the 2007 Open Mixed World Cup in South Africa, that's the other highlight. This will be my fourth World Cup."

He said while it was always special to represent New Zealand, his motivation had changed throughout the years.

"Now I have a family and that's the reason why I'm still doing it 20 years later. I do it more for them, to make them proud.

"It's the camaraderie of the group as well and this year it's a new challenge being in the men's, I've always played mixed."

Page said when it came to touch rugby, he was "a late starter".

"I started playing when I was doing my OE in England, I just wanted a sport to play and ended up playing for England - captaining their mixed team at the European World Champs.

"I love the game, it's a good challenge. My analogy is it's like trying to play chess while running as fast as you can."

He played for the team at the last World Cup, in Australia, in which they lost the final in a drop off against Australia.

"I haven't beaten Australia in a game yet. One of the big impetuses for me this time around, because it is a user-pays sport, it can be an expensive hobby when you get to this level. But this year, the fact that we've got these boys coming as well is great.

Hunter was thrilled about the prospect of making his New Zealand touch debut. He said the biggest challenge would be the heat and humidity in Kuala Lumpur.

"It feels good, I've made a few squads before but I've never gone away and played for various reasons. I'm looking forward to getting some game time and hanging out with good mates.

"I've been playing since I was 15 or 16, I like the friendships you make, the sport itself and the fitness. It's just an enjoyable game to play and a good challenge. This is a pretty solid team, I've played with these two at nationals with Bay of Plenty."

Most of their teammates in the New Zealand side are from the Canterbury team who beat them in the final at nationals this year.

The World Cup starts on Monday. In the round robin the New Zealand 40 Men's will go up against Japan, Malaysia, Ireland, England, USA and Singapore.

NZ Touch players competing at the Touch World Cup who list Bay of Plenty as their home province: Open Men's
Carlos Savage, Maurice Stone, Shaquille Stone.
27 Women's
Charisse Billing, Rangi Rapana.
30 Mixed
Michael Rawiri, Puawai Gardiner, Raelene Kuka, Tamati Fraser, Zane Welsh.
35 Women's
Annette Almond, Lisa Ellis, Matapa Skudder.
40 Men's
Ben Page, Shamos Hunter, Steven Wall.
45 Men's
Arron Samuels, Dion Pascoe, Garner Gulliver, Jason Moeau, Tony Wiperi-Karauria.