8 Sam Ward (North Harbour Rays)
Came to prominence with a hat trick of tries against the Perth Spirit (unlucky to not have been awarded a fourth!) Ward has shown some surprising skills at the back of the Rays scrum. Another of these club players that has thrived on the higher level of competition and upon which the success of the NRC can be measured. Whether he makes it to Super Rugby is an as yet unanswerable question, but why not a 7s option? Surely Ward’s physicality and skills wouldn’t be out of place in the shorter version of the game?