Reuben’s rugby star on the rise with place in NZ U17s
Takaka prop Reuben Northover’s rugby career has moved up another notch.
After being named in the non-playing tournament team after the South Island Under-16 tournament team late last year, Reuben was included in an 80-strong New Zealand under-17 training squad this year.
The 26 South Islanders in that squad attended a two-day rugby clinic in Christchurch recently and, at the end of that, Reuben was named in the 30-man New Zealand Under-17 team.
Reuben’s proud father Guy Northover explained the process and the significance of Reuben’s selection.
“The national Under-17 team won’t play a game, but all the players in it, and all the players who nearly made it, know that the rugby union is watching them and they’re interested in developing their careers. There’ll be two more workshops for Reuben and the rest of the chosen 30 to attend this year, one in April at the rugby academy in Palmerston North and the other in December. Next season the rugby union is abandoning the national Under-18 side as well as the Under-21s. There’ll only be an Under-20 team and Reuben will be eligible for that.”
Guy said that there were plenty of parents at the Christchurch rugby clinic and everyone was impressed with what they saw and heard. “The boys were put through some pretty vigorous stuff – mock games, scrummaging and activities aimed at the players’ mental skills as well. They had experts there talking about nutrition, agents and contracts. There were some pretty important coaches too, like Steve Hansen and Aussie McLean. It was incredible watching our boy run around in front of guys like that.”
Being in the Nelson Bays Rugby academy had been a good thing for Reuben’s career, said Guy. “This will be his fourth year in the academy and the coaches and senior players he’s met have made a real difference. So has going over to Nelson College. Reuben has matured physically and in all ways, like in terms of his confidence. He’s really blossomed. He loves going to school and he gets to play a lot of rugby.”
Reuben has plenty of ambition and, in time, he’d like to be a Mako, though this year there is a national secondary schools’ team to aim for as well, said Guy.
“He knows there’s a lot of hard work to do before he can think about achieving his goals, though. He’s worked really hard to get where he is now.”
From a parent’s point of view the emphasis placed by the rugby union on the players’ life outside the game has impressed Guy.
“They say they’re not interested in players without jobs,” he said. “The way they’re talking to these young players now seems to be based on a more rounded idea of the whole person. They say they’re looking for good players who want to listen and learn and improve, not the very good players who aren’t coachable.”
Neil Wilson
