Wellington Development Team named

The 2017 Wellington Development Team has been named to play a newly created series against Tasman, Canterbury and Auckland.

Wellington Development coaches Dion Waller and Riki Flutey named a 23-strong squad after watching the annual Rugby Festival tournament, which included the Wellington Maori, Wellington Samoan and Wellington Centurions.

The squad, which includes players from nine different Wellington clubs, will play its first match against Tasman in Blenheim on Saturday, followed by Canterbury Development, at Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua, before traveling north to play Auckland Development.

The Wellington squad includes six players from Marist St Pats and three each from the Upper Hutt Rams and Wellington Axemen clubs. There are two each from Petone, Old Boys University, Johnsonville, and Paremata-Plimmerton, and one each from Poneke and Tawa.

The 2017 Wellington Development Team is: Chris Mafi, (Johnsonville), Valentine Meachen (Marist St Pats), Ha'amea Ahio (Marist St Pats), Alex, Dalzell (Wellington), Anthony Pettet (Johnsonville), James Hansen (Paremata-Plimmerton), Sam Coventry (Old Boys University), Matt Peni (Marist St Pats), Ken Kapeli (Marist St Pats), Piri Paraone (Petone), Mike Buckley (Marist St Pats), Perry Hayman (Northern United), Lester Malolo (Petone), Olly Sappsford (Wellington), Pakai Turia (Poneke), James, Coburn (Tawa), Heemi Apanui (Upper Hutt Rams), Stu Simonson (Old Boys University), Taisson Lealaisalanoa (Paremata-Plimmerton), Josh Brown (Upper Hutt Rams), Regan Sword (Marist St Pats), Max Pearson (Upper Hutt Rams), Paddy Hughes (Wellington).

The Development Team's schedule is:

Sept 30 v Tasman, Blenheim, 3pm

Oct 7 v Canterbury, Porirua, 3pm

Oct 14 v Auckland, Auckland, 12.30pm