Chris (19) is following in his father's footsteps by representing North Otago in a Ranfurly Shield challenge.
It appears the Talanoas are the fifth father-son combination to have both played in a Ranfurly Shield game for North Otago, joining Duncan and Robbie Gillies, Pop and Peter Kilgour, Ray and Shaun Matthews and Graeme and Aaron Johnston.
Sammy Talanoa (51) played as lock in 1993 when North Otago lost to Auckland 5-139.
Aged 36, a pen portrait in the official programme that day described him as the "grandad" of the team.
Chris, who plays at first five-eighth, will be making his North Otago debut against Auckland on Tuesday, while his father has the afternoon off work to watch from the sideline.
Yesterday, Chris recalled growing up in a rugby-mad family which was still rugby-mad.
He would have gone to the shield challenge as a 5-year-old in 1993 but could not remember it, although he had seen photographs.
It was exciting to be playing his first representative game against a team such as Auckland and while he supposed he would be nervous when he ran on to the field, he did not want to make it a big thing.
"I've been dropped in the deep end but it'll be all right. I'll go out and make the most of it," he said.
Chris, an apprentice builder for Kennard Construction, hoped there would be a big crowd at Whitestone Con-tracting Stadium to make lots of noise to "put Auckland off".
While he would eventually love to be a professional rugby player - it would be a dream to play rugby full-time and get paid for it - that was a long way off, he said.
In the meantime, his proud father will be at the game on Tuesday, to support his son and the team.
"Hopefully they do well . . . and better than us. I'm sure they will," Sammy said.
He had fond memories of the 1993 game - despite the drubbing - which was one of the most enjoyable experiences in his playing career.
"How often do you play against All Blacks and get to mingle with them and sit down at a table and talk?" he said.
Sammy recently played half a game in a senior B competition but laughed that his body "didn't want to do anything like that any more".
