New Zealand Rugby is proud to announce the New Zealand Heartland XV squad selected to tour Samoa in November. <\/p>\n
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The 27-man squad is made up of the best players from across the Bunnings Heartland Championship, with several of those playing over the weekend in the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup finals. <\/p>\n
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Head coach, David Harrison, says the squad features some standout performers from the 2025 Heartland Championship season, selected for their skill, commitment, and leadership.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe have 14 debutants this year, with several players part of the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup finals last weekend. Seven players have made the squad for a second straight season and two, Adam Williamson and Kaleb Foote, join us for a fourth season in a row\u201d, says David.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019d like to congratulate all players on their selection. This year\u2019s competition was extremely competitive and full of quality players.\u00a0I look forward to connecting with the team next week to start preparations for an exciting tour to Samoa.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The squad assembles on 29 October to start preparing for a two-match tour of Samoa. They will play two Samoan representative teams, providing a platform for grassroots talent to showcase their skills and experience the unique culture and hospitality of Samoa.<\/p>\n
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Steve Lancaster, General Manager Community Rugby says this will be a rugby career highlight for many of these players. <\/p>\n
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\u201cAfter delivering great performances throughout the season, each player has earned the honour of wearing the black jersey. It\u2019s been a few years since a Heartland XV squad has travelled overseas, so this is a special opportunity for players to represent their wh\u0101nau and provinces on the international stage, forge lifelong friendships, and strengthen NZ Rugby\u2019s connection with our Pasifika neighbours\u201d, says Steve.<\/p>\n
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Heartland XV Match details:<\/p>\n
Tuesday, 4th November 2025: President\u2019s XV vs New Zealand Heartland XV, Taula Stadium, Ulalei Vaiala, Samoa (KO: 2:00pm)
\nSaturday, 8th November 2025: Manuma Samoa vs New Zealand Heartland XV, Taula Stadium, Ulalei Vaiala, Samoa (KO: 2:00pm)<\/p>\n
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The New Zealand Heartland XV team is: *(denotes potential debut);<\/p>\n
Players:<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam Williamson (Mid-Canterbury)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alekesio Vakarorogo (Whanganui) *<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Anthony Amato (South Canterbury)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cameron Dromgool (Thames Valley)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Declan McCormack (Mid-Canterbury) <\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ethan Robinson (Whanganui)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hugh Mitchell Cameron (Mid-Canterbury)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hunter Stewart (Mid-Canterbury)* <\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jackson Lewis Donlan (Mid-Canterbury)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kahn Fotualii (Horowhenua-Kapiti)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kaleb Foote (King Country) <\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kelepi Funaki (North Otago)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kenan Gillson (Thames Valley)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kristian Gent-Standen (King Country)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesen Huiarangi (Thames Valley)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Liam Rowlands (King Country)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan Allen (Thames Valley)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Manasa Samo (Mid-Canterbury)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mataitini Feke (North Otago)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Quinn Collard (Thames Valley)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Samual Walton-Sexton (Wairarapa Bush)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sione Etoni (Thames Valley)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Reekie (Mid-Canterbury)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Toetu Touli (Mid-Canterbury)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tom Ryan (King Country)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tupou Lea’aemanu (Wairarapa Bush)*<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Uluifalefisi Junior Fakatoufifita (North Otago)<\/p>\n
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Unavailable due to injury: Keanu Taumata (Poverty Bay), Raitube Vasurakuta (Mid-Canterbury), Tokomaata Mavache Kelesi Fakatava (South Canterbury), and William Wright (South Canterbury).<\/p>\n
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New Zealand Heartland XV Management:<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Head Coach: David Harrison (Thames Valley)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assistant Coaches: Aarin Dunster (King Country) and Matai\u2019a Aleni Feagaiga (Horowhenua Kapiti)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Team Manager: Thomas Zimmerman (Horowhenua Kapiti)<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Campaign Manager: Josh Willoughby<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Team Physio: Richard Barlow<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Team Doctor: Stevie Waerea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand Rugby is proud to announce the New Zealand Heartland XV squad selected to tour Samoa in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-228905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}