In the heart of North Canterbury, Rangiora is a gateway to local wineries and as it turns out, All Blacks too.
Fletcher Newell is the latest All Black from the area since Todd Blackadder. The other alumni include John Ashworth, Brian Ford, Graeme Higginson, Ian MacRae and Barry Thompson.
The recently tuned 22-year-old has come in to replace Ofa Tu’ungafasi who has been ruled out with a neck injury ahead of New Zealand’s tour of South Africa. It’s a big deal coming from a state co-ed school.
“He was noticed really early on you know, he was in the first 15 when he was under 15 which is unusual because there’s big fellas in that grade. I know that at the South Island under 15s he was marked out then as someone to watch,” Rangiora High School rugby patron Julia Malcolm said.
From the beginning, Newell took his craft very seriously. The annual first XV photo was a prime example.
“They took the serious [photo] hands on knees and a fun one and everyone else is dabbing and Fletcher’s got the classic rugby man photo,” Malcolm said.
Newell’s love of the game started at Ashley Rugby Club, a club who are proud to have their first official All Black.
“From being a quite shy boy and quiet he just got on with his job and excelled. Whatever he’s done he’s gone 150%. He’d want more and more, and he’d be very disappointed if he didn’t achieve to the highest level,” President Murray Goodwin said.
The region means a lot to Fletcher and back in 2019, the community rallied to get him and his dad Arnold to Argentina for the under 20 World Cup.
At the time his father spoke of how proud he was of his son and how hard he worked to achieve his goals.
“The people of North Canterbury have been absolutely outstanding with supporting Fletcher and I. He loves the game; he’d play every day of the week if he could. I know for him he’s taking one step at a time but very big steps just recently,” Arnold said.
Three years on he’s an All Black, taking an even bigger leap towards a promising career.
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