Wainui welcomes back ‘favourite son’ Weepu
IT ALL happened suddenly, but Wainuiomata rugby club welcomed home its favourite son at the weekend.
Blues halfback Piri Weepu was back on the field for his home club on Saturday, helping lead the premiers to a convincing 23-13 win over Petone in the first round of the Swindale Shield.
After sitting on the bench for much of the Blues’ loss to the Rebels in Melbourne on Thursday, the 29-year-old All Black was keen to see some game time. Premiers coach Mike Woollett said Weepu had sought permission from Blues management to play in Saturday’s game.
‘‘My understanding was that he had to get permission from [Blues chief executive] Andy Dalton to be able to play, and then just had to register for our club like any player does normally.
‘‘We got the OK at about 9.30am on the day of the game.’’
Everyone was glad to see Weepu back on the field, Woollett said.
‘‘Wainui
being
the
club
it
is, we’re always happy to welcome back our favourite son. He went well with full participation and directed the team around the field from his spot at number 10.’’
On Twitter, Weepu said it was good to be back playing in black and green. The game was ‘‘tough and physical’’, but he played 80 minutes and was working on his form, Weepu told his followers. While Woollett said Weepu well and truly stood out at club level, he was just in need of some real game time to get back in prime form.
Woollett was not expecting Weepu to become a regular fixture in the side, with few openings in the Blues schedule. ‘‘We wouldn’t be seeing him very often, but it just depends on how things pan out. The Blues have obviously got first dibs on him, but if he becomes available we would definitely like to use him. We’ve got a lot of love for him in Wainui.’’
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