Sheridan Rangihuna: The Opportunist

Above: Sheridan Rangihuna giving it a rip for Hutt Old Boys Marist against Old Boys University in Wellington Premier rugby earlier this year.

Wellington Lion, Sheridan Rangihuna, spent much of his youth learning our great national sport in bare feet on frosty mornings at Trentham Memorial Park in Upper Hutt.

Fast-forward some 15 years, Rangihuna has now settled himself into the Wellington Lions set-up, earning a starting role last Friday evening.

However, there is much more to know about the young halfback's rise to the professional ranks.

Sheridan's natural ability and flair for the game came to prominence for Upper Hutt College in 2010, helping the 1^st XV side earn a place in the Premier 1 grade, a time when life was simple and running out with your mates made it all the worthwhile.

Family reasons saw Rangihuna take an opportunity further north with Gisborne Boys' High School, a proud rugby college where his talents could be put to the test.

"I sort of needed to get away from Wellington in general because I was getting up to a bit of mischief," Rangihuna says.

His time in Gisborne allowed him to focus on rugby and hone his skills to their maximum, playing against some of the best schoolboy teams in the country.

"It helped my rugby in terms of playing a better quality of rugby, playing hard games week in, week out."

Despite missing out on the national top four competition in his final year, Rangihuna was selected into the New Zealand secondary schools squad for 2011, nobody was more shocked than him.

"I didn't even watch the naming of the team but then I got phone calls saying congrats and I thought ‘what for?' and finally got the phone call from Andrew Douglas, the New Zealand Schools coach.

"Getting sponsored stuff from Adidas as a school kid is pretty surreal."

?"It was the first taste of semi-professional rugby," he remembers.

Travelling to Australia with the team and training every day was the opportunity the 21-year-old needed to reaffirm his hunger to play rugby as a career.

"I wasn't too good at school so I thought if I'm going to give this a crack I may as well give it a good crack."

Before arriving back in Wellington in 2014, Rangihuna spent time in the Hawke's Bay, following some friends to ply his trade with the Magpies.

After a stint with the under 20 side he thought his best opportunity would come back down in Wellington, where he first learnt to pass the ball.

Hutt Old Boys Marist was the lucky Wellington club to acquire his services for their successful 2014 campaign. Although the promising side failed to fire in the Swindale Shield, they knew they had an opportunity to turn things around in the Jubilee Cup.

"The ball just didn't bounce our way in the Swindale.

"Once we made it to Jubilee we had a new start ... once you're winning, confidence is up and it all changed from there.

"The confidence of the side grew and we were mentally strong as a team."

Rangihuna hails the Risdon brothers, Jason and Nick, for their efforts to create a strong team bond throughout the season that eventually proved fruitful.

They put heavy focus on the social aspect of the squad in partnership with the on-field training aspect, which left the players truly wanting to perform for their fellow man.

Despite being overlooked for the Lions' initial squad, Rangihuna got the call-up when OBU halfback, Matt O'Connor, succumbed to injury in the pre-season.

Sheridan has his chance and he's taken it in his stride, even earning a starting role in last Friday's match against Canterbury.

Despite the team's inability to execute so far, Rangihuna believes they're not far from the mark.

"The intent's there, and wanting to play good is there but we're just trying a bit too hard.

"We can't dwell on the previous games so we're just looking forward."

On a personal note he is relishing the opportunity to be in the professional environment.

"I'm happy with the way things are heading at the moment. If I can continue to get game time with the Lions that will be a positive.

"It all takes time and I just have to be patient."

His natural sporting ability is not only seen on the rugby field but the golf course as well, his handicap getting as low as +1.2, a scratch golfer, who tries to have a round at Te Marua when he can.

His feet remain firmly stuck on the ground: ?hard work, positivity and patience being the key to his early success.

With any success story generally comes a supportive background and Rangihuna isn't lacking any of that.

"My family is my biggest motivator. From when I moved back to Gisborne I think my parents only missed one game. ?They're pretty much there every game."

Rangihuna looks set to pull on the black and gold again this weekend against Tasman as they look to notch their first win of the season.