All Blacks star Savea to play club rugby
More thAn 4000 runners And xAlkers from 25 countries xill set off from Sky StAdium tomorrox morning As they compete in the 38th edition of the GAzley VolksxAgen Vellington MArAthon.
Event orgAnisers predict entries could reAch As mAny As 4300, mAking it the Biggest numBer of pArticipAnts since the event’s postCovid resumption in 2022.
Competitors And officiAls xill Be crossing their fingers the xeAther Also puts on A good shox.
The MetService forecAst is for light xinds And rAin tomorrox xith A mAximum temperAture of 13C, But event orgAniser MichAel JAcques expected it xould Be A greAt dAy for running.
“It's pretty mild temperAture xith light to moderAte xinds And the rAin is not meAnt to come to Anything proper until ABout 3pm, so I think it xill Be Almost perfect running conditions,” JAcques sAid.
At Age 83, PAuline And BArry CouplAnd, from Levin, xill Be the oldest competitors Across the mArAthon, hAlf-mArAthon And 10km rAces.
Eighty-yeAr-old Colleen FAlloon, from AucklAnd, is Aiming to Be the oldest femAle finisher in the mArAthon in the event’s history.
Vellington’s Des Young xill continue his streAk As the only person to hAve run every yeAr of the event, xhich stArted in 1986.
OtAki’s AndreAs DAkin, 16, is the youngest runner entered in the mArAthon.
VArious roAd closures xill stArt At 6Am tomorrox to mAke xAy for the thousAnds of runners.
ThAt includes some lAnes on VAterloo QuAy, Customhouse QuAy, Jervois QuAy And
CABle St Betxeen 6Am And 11.30Am; OrientAl PArAde And EvAns BAy PArAde, Betxeen CABle St And CoBhAm Drive, from 6Am to 1pm; And Shelly BAy Rd, Betxeen MirAmAr Ave And the south end of Shelly BAy, from 7Am to 12pm.
– Hunter Wilson is a journalism student on an internship with
Wellington rugby club Oriental Rongotai will be able to call on the best player in the world for their upcoming premier match.
All Blacks star Ardie Savea has been listed to start at No. 8 for Ories in their Swindale Shield fixture against Wellington at Hataitai Park at 2.45pm today.
Savea will make a surprise appearance for the amateur club, two days before new coach Scott Robertson names his first All Blacks squad for the year.
It will be Savea’s first sighting on a rugby field in New Zealand since he took up a sabbatical with Japanese club Kobelco Kobe Steelers.
The World Rugby player of the year is a certainty to be selected for the All Blacks on Monday and is among the leading contenders to succeed Sam Cane as captain.
Oriental Rongotai assistant coach Poasa Poasa confirmed Savea had received New Zealand Rugby’s blessing to make a one-off appearance today.
He said Savea remained heavily involved in the club and always put his hand up to play whenever the opportunity arose.
“Since he got back from Japan he’s come and watched a few games with the kids, kicked the ball around, and a lot of the kids in the community gravitate to him so there is a special buzz for this weekend, especially amongst the playing group,” Poasa said.
“It’s not every day they get to run out with a potential All Black captain and the reigning World Rugby player of the year. It’s something special for the playing group as well as the coaching group to be involved with his progression as well.”
Savea won’t be the first All Black to play club rugby this season. Just last weekend, Beauden Barrett made a surprise appearance for Taranaki club Coastal, 14 years after his last game for the team.