Rugby: Staunch Blues fan Kees in No 1 spot

Kees Faumuina's name will be on Ofa Tu'ungafasi's shirt tomorrow. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Auckland schoolboy Kees Faumuina will have a foot in each rugby code in separate cities tomorrow, thanks to his favourite team, the Blues.

In the morning he plays on the wing for the Otara Scorpions under-12s league side, and tomorrow night his name will be in the union scrum at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium - emblazoned on the No1 jersey of prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi as the Blues take on the Highlanders.

Kees, 11, is one of 115 youngsters whose names will replace the BNZ sponsorship logo on the shirts of all players for the five NZ teams in the 10th round of the Super 15.

But despite switching to league until he is old enough to play rugby for his school, De La Salle College, Kees has a strong union pedigree from being named after former All Black Kees Meeuws and being a distant relative of Blues forward Charlie Faumuina.

He also had plenty to talk about yesterday with Blues coach and De La Salle old boy Sir John Kirwan, and with Tu'ungafasi, whose younger brother Tevita is a Year 9 student at the school.

Despite having a challenging task preparing his team to build on last weekend's win against the Brumbies, which broke a nine-game losing streak, Sir John found time to mentor Kees on how to deal with bullies who pick on him for an eye disability.

"He took me for a walk and told me to be strong," the youngster told the Herald.

"He said no one can hold you back but yourself."

His mother, Mel Faumuina, said Kees had already taken inspiration from the Blues to be strong in the face of adversity. "He has ... learned to accept his difference."

But she said having his name on Blues jersey No1 would be a great confidence-booster for her only child.

Kees assures Kirwan that a Blues win will be a sure thing. And although he forgot to bring his team flag for players to sign at a presentation at their practice ground at Unitec, he will get to keep Tu'ungafasi's jersey as a souvenir.

Kees was among 90 youngsters whose names were drawn from a ballot in an exercise in which 10 others received jerseys through the BNZ and team Facebook pages, and 15 won Trade Me auctions which raised more than $10,000 for Plunket.

Two others at yesterday's BNZ Future Stars presentation were 3-year-old Zion Clarke of West Auckland and 7-year-old Tristan Eriksen of Glenfield. Zion's name will be on Pita Ahki's No13 jersey, and Tristan's on Patrick Tuipulotu's No5 strip.