Swift defence skills have earned Greg Houkamau his spot on the New Zealand masters men’s team for the 2024 Touch World Cup in the United Kingdom this month.
The 53-year-old made the cut to play in the men’s 50s division after competing in trials in Auckland last year.
He has been playing touch rugby for more than three decades — so having realised his elusive goal was a welcome surprise.
"It’s always been a dream of mine to play in a world cup touch team, so to have finally made it is so humbling," Houkamau said.
The journey to wearing the silver fern may have seemed long but steady milestones were met along the way.
Nabbing a gold medal for Auckland at the nationals was a first for him in a national tournament.
Prior to that success he made a 15-man masters team for a Super transtasman series in Australia in 2012.
The seasoned touch stalwart, who picked up the sport as a teen, is more excited than nervous to represent New Zealand at the upcoming international competition.
"I just want to go out there and do my job for the team.
"If I can do my defence and make sure no-one gets past me — or through me — then I’ve done the best for my team," Houkamau said.
He is doing his own training — ploughing through a daily plyometrics workout at Southland’s high performance gym.
"We’ve had team training comps in Auckland but since these are only held in the North Island the rest of my training is all up to me," he said.
Houkamau is grateful to his community for getting him to the global competition, as competitors have to cover their own costs to get to the event.
"I want to thank them for supporting me in that space," he said.
"Our hapori (community) have been amazing.
"A lot of our rangatahi that I’ve taught had come out to support me, so it’s important that I go out there to represent Murihiku and represent it well."
Houkamau believed it was important to give back to the community and having a crack at the world cup showed the rangatahi you were never too old to chase after your dreams.
If his team made it to the finals then it would be a bonus, and if they won the final then it would be an even bigger bonus, he said.
Houkamau acknowledged his Southland touch rugby peers for their encouragement and the many organisations within the community for their support.
The Touch World Cup begins in Nottingham on July 15.
