Current Touch Blacks Men’s Lead Coach Rahul Das will be taking a new step in his coaching career next weekend, as he leads the TE HAU RĀWHITI TĀNE men’s team at the 2022 Bunnings Homegrown Touch Series. 

Te Awamutu will play host to the 2022 Bunnings Homegrown Touch Series event fuelled by Indomie, which will be held over Easter weekend. This series allows our representative players, coaches, and referees a chance to showcase their skills in an action-packed weekend. When asked about the Homegrown series, Rahul said “It's great to be able to bring our High Performance players into an environment that will add another layer to our international programme. We see this series as an integral part of moving forward by recognising and rewarding amazing talent, and creating more depth across the country”.   

After a disrupted representative season, the 2022 Bunnings Homegrown Touch Series will give our High Performance athletes a chance to hit it out against each other in a best of 3 series. When asked about the importance of series, Rahul said “An enforced break has allowed everyone to refresh and recharge, and this series plays an important role in getting some important cogs moving. It allows us to assess how the game has evolved and how we have adapted to that at a higher level, which is all very exciting”. 

Being a crucial part of the preparation process for the 2024 Touch World Cup, Rahul has outlined some goals he wants to achieve in the 2023 & 2024 touch seasons before leading up to the World Cup, “the NZ Open Men's to have more on-field success and play a style that is innovative, intelligent, and relentless. A style that challenges us mentally and incorporates our natural instinct and skillset. We also want to continue working on developing a world-class touch programme that holistically supports our athletes to be their best on and off the field. We need to empower our players to uphold our culture and hope that makes a significant impact on the skills and development of pathways programmes and touch in NZ.”

Rahul’s team the TE HAU RĀWHITI TĀNE will play TE HAU Ā URU TĀNE coached by Paora Peawini. Both teams combine a mix of youthful talent and experienced players, which will make for some exciting, yet unpredictable clashes over the weekend. Rahul said “the depth across both teams is amazing with experience across the park. The teams have great leaders in Mita Graham and Carlos Savage respectively, who will guide some up and coming talent in Tipene Reweti, Jimmy Taylor, Tre Pohipi and Taylor Haugh”.  

For more on the 2022 Bunnings Homegrown Touch Series, head to our social media channels or our website https://www.touchnz.co.nz/Pathways-High-Performance/Homegrown-Touch-Series. All 9 games from the series will be livestreamed on Sky Sport Next Youtube channel. Links will be on the Touch NZ Facebook pages from Saturday 16^th.

Article added: Thursday 07 April 2022