Former Māori All Blacks loose forward Ethan Roots has been named in England's 36-player squad to tour New Zealand next month.
Roots was born in Auckland and attended Rosmini College on the North Shore before representing North Harbour and playing one match for the Crusaders in 2020 before a move to the United Kingdom paid huge dividends.
The 26-year-old initially played for the Ospreys in Wales before moving to Exeter in England and has gone from strength to strength, his powerful frame well suited to the forward-oriented style in the Northern Hemisphere.
His background in ju jitsu and construction work would also have helped him make an impact in the more physical and attrition-based game in the north.
Roots earned his first England cap in January this year, winning a player of the match award in his team's Six Nations victory over Italy.
England will arrive in New Zealand to play two Tests in Dunedin on July 6 and Auckland a week later after playing one Test in Japan.
High-profile players George Ford, Ellis Genge, Ollie Chessum and Elliot Daly are all unavailable.
England coach Steve Borthwick has named six uncapped players in the squad.
Roots' homecoming is likely to attract the most attention in this part of the world. He qualifies for England due to family links — his father was born in Reading.
In an interview with the NZ Herald in February, Roots said: "You find yourself in camp and you go: 'Holy s***, I'm in an England international camp, how did I get here?' It's pretty nuts to be honest with you."
He told the newspaper he knew he was in the frame for a Six Nations call-up but the news still came as a shock.
"I was on the phone, the kids were going nuts in the other room. Tessa [my partner] was trying to eavesdrop on me. They told me about 30 seconds into the call and then for the next 60 seconds it was sort of just blank, a bit of fuzz — I didn't really take in what else he said."
Fellow loose forward Tom Curry has been included in the squad despite playing only 34 minutes since the World Cup.
Curry, red-carded for a high tackle early in a pool match against Argentina — which England won — is recovering from a hip injury.
His club coach — Sale's director of rugby Alex Sanderson — said after Curry played a cameo recently that if the 25-year-old was taken on tour it would be "guaranteed" to shorten his career.
England's squad
Forwards (20): Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Charlie Ewels (Bath), Jamie George (Saracens, captain), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Joe Marler (Harlequins), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs), Will Stuart (Bath), Sam Underhill (Bath).
Backs (16): Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), George Furbank (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Luke Northmore (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers).
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