Quota for Wesley retained

Play a word association game. The third part of Wesley College and rugby is ... Jonah Lomu.

But other big names have made their mark on the rugby field from the celebrated secondary school near Pukekohe, and this year it is making a big contribution to the Chiefs' Super 12 campaign.

Four of the backline who thumped the Sharks last week went to Wesley, and all are in again for tonight's match against the Cats at Waikato Stadium.

The retention of rising talent Stephen Donald at first five-eighth maintains the Wesley quota, with rookie centre Niva Ta'auso and wings Sailosi Tagicakibau and Sitiveni Sivivatu all having passed through its gates.

Donald was team-mates with Sivivatu and Tagicakibau, Ta'auso is a couple of years older. Donald spent his final year at Wesley after completing four years in his home town at Waiuku College.

His promise was already evident and he toured Britain and France with the national secondary schools team in 2002. That backline talent included Ben Atiga, Joe Rokocoko, captain Luke McAlister and Donald's positional rival, Hurricane Jimmy Gopperth.

"We've been rivals since school, challenging for age-group sides for three or four years. It's good to see Jim going well," Donald said.

And that tour?

"It was a pretty good side. It was a great month away. I don't know if we played as well as we could but we had a good time."

By then Donald had already played NPC first division for Counties Manukau. "My first NPC game was against Canterbury when they had all the All Blacks. That was a bit of an eye opener."

In 2003 he was a key figure in New Zealand winning the under-21 World Cup in England, playing four of the five games, including the final win over Australia.

This is his first taste of Super 12. He came on as a replacement in the opening round against the Waratahs but the Sharks were his first start.

"It was always an aim of mine to get some Super 12 starts but 'Hilly' [David Hill] is pretty established down in these parts. I trained as hard as I could and never gave up hope of getting a start."

He joined Waikato last year and played seven NPC games, starting against Otago and Canterbury.

His coach, Ian Foster, acknowledged there was an element of a gamble about moving the experienced Hill out to second five-eighth last week, between rookies Donald and Ta'auso.

It worked a treat, Ta'auso having a significant say in several tries and Donald grabbing the last of the six tries. It was not a totally error-free display but he looked the part for much of the match.

"His running game has always been quality and he contributed in a number of ways," Foster said. "He's just got to work on his tactical kicking and control of the team. I think he'd be very satisfied with that first game."

As for the player, it was "a big buzz" to get the win. Another one tonight and it'll be a happy trip to South Africa tomorrow.