Stags midfielder to make Highlanders debut
It seems Whaanga has pipped fellow Stags midfielder Isaac Te Tamaki for the call-up to the Highlanders for tonight’s game.
Southland Stags midfielder Matt Whaanga is set to make his Highlanders debut against the Queensland Reds in Dunedin tonight [Friday].
Thomas Umaga-Jensen has been ruled out with a calf injury and replaced by Whaanga.
Late last year the word was at just 25-years-old Matt Whaanga’s shot at professional rugby was probably coming to an end.
He was pondering life after rugby.
Whaanga had emerged as a promising schoolboy at South Otago High School which included in 2014 scoring a remarkable 60 points in a 70-5 victory over James Hargest College.
The midfielder filtered into the Otago setup and played 17 games for Otago from 2018 through to 2020 without really being able to nail down a regular starting spot.
In 2021 he joined the SBS Bank Southland Stags in search of more opportunities and he has since impressed in maroon.
But following the 2022 NPC campaign a Super Rugby spot still alluded him. Whaanga it seemed had started to look at life away from rugby.
Although a matter of weeks into a new job earlier this year, the Hurricanes came calling signing him as cover.
Of late he has been playing club rugby in Dunedin for Taieri and now finds himself in line for a shot at Super Rugby with the Highlanders.
Whaanga will rejoin the Stags for another campaign in 2023 and his stints in the Super Rugby environment have to be beneficial for his progress.
It seems Whaanga has pipped fellow Stags midfielder Isaac Te Tamaki for the call up to the Highlanders for tonight’s game. Te Tamaki spent some time in the Highlanders set up earlier in the season.