Coach: Andrew Strawbridge
Home ground: FMG Stadium Waikato
2019: 6th in Premiership
Talking points
Two-Test All Black Luke Jacobson will captain the Mooloo men this season and he’ll be in safe hands with former Chiefs skipper Liam Messam joining him in the loose forwards. Messam’s played 85 matches for Waikato and returns to his province after two years with French club Toulon. He hasn’t played in the Mitre 10 Cup since 2015. The bulk of the 2019 squad return for this season, with 20 out of the 31 players having played last year. Waikato features three current All Blacks in Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie and Jacobson and sixteen Super Rugby players.
Player to watch
Midfielder/outside back Gideon Wrampling is one to watch in the Waikato squad this year. Named for the first time, the 19 year-old scored four tries in three matches for the New Zealand Secondary Schools side last year. A former St Paul’s Collegiate student, Wrampling plays for the Hamilton Old Boys club and is of a big stature, weighing 102kg and standing at 188cm tall.
Incoming players
Liam Messam, Steven Misa, Patrick Osborne, Adam Thomson, George Dyer, Liam Coombes-Fabling, Cortez Ratima, Xavier Roe, Gideon Wrampling
Waikato squad
Hamilton Burr, Rob Cobb, George Dyer, Samipeni Finau, Josh Iosefa-Scott, Luke Jacobson, Mitch Jacobson, Ayden Johnstone, Sosefo Kautai, Sekope Lopeti-Moli, Liam Messam, Steven Misa, Ollie Norris, Simon Parker, Samisoni Taukei’aho, James Thompson, Adam Thomson, Liam Coombes-Fabling, Matty Lansdown, Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie, Patrick Osborne, Cortez Ratima, Rivez Reihana, Xavier Roe, Louis Rogers, Fletcher Smith, Bailyn Sullivan, Valynce Te Whare, Quinn Tupaea, Gideon Wrampling
Waikato fixtures
Waikato v Wellington
Saturday 12 September
2.05pm, FMG Stadium Waikato
Waikato v North Harbour
Saturday 19 September
2.05pm, FMG Stadium Waikato
Tasman v Waikato
Saturday 26 September
2.05pm, Trafalgar Park, Nelson
Southland v Waikato
Sunday 4 October
2.05pm, Rugby Park, Invercargill
Waikato v Counties Manukau
Saturday 10 October
7.05pm, FMG Stadium Waikato
Canterbury v Waikato
Sunday 18 October
2.05pm, Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch
Waikato v Taranaki
Sunday 25 October
4.35pm, FMG Stadium Waikato
Auckland v Waikato
Saturday 31 October
7.05pm, Eden Park Auckland
Waikato v Bay of Plenty
Sunday 8 November
2.05pm, FMG Stadium Waikato
Northland v Waikato
Saturday 14 November
2.05pm, Kaikohe Rugby Club