NZ Under-20 Profile: The Goodhue twins

The last twins to play for the New Zealand Colts were the Whetton brothers, Gary and Alan. Both men enjoyed long and successful All Black careers.

Though interestingly they didn't play for the Colts at the same time. Gary embarked on an unbeaten internal tour in 1979 and Alan jetted to Australia the following year.

In 2015, twins Jack and Josh Goodhue will tour Australia as members of the New Zealand under-20 team, seeking a place in the IRB Junior World Championships squad in June.

Jack is a second-five eighth and Josh is a lock. Both boys have taken a slightly divergent path to reach the same point.

After leaving Mount Albert Grammar School in Auckland at the end of 2013, Jack went to Canterbury to study agriculture at Lincoln University.

He started his rugby at Lincoln by playing for the championship winning Colts side and then cracked the premiers who topped the round-robin standings, before stumbling in the semi-finals. Jack explains why he shifted to Christchurch:

"We grew up on a farm and its always been an ambition of mine to study farming, but you can only do that in two places, Christchurch or Palmerston North. I came here for the stronger rugby competition. "

That proved to be a wise decision as Jack cracked the ITM Cup. He played five games for Canterbury last season.

He scored a try on debut as a reserve in a 58-27 victory over Waikato in Hamilton. A week later he scored again in a 48-3 thumping of Northland and was solid in a 23-16 victory against Otago.

He missed the next five games, waiting behind 53-game veteran Adam Whitelock, before returning for a gusty win against Taranaki and the semi-final defeat to Tasman which saw Canterbury lose their six-year grasp on the title.

Canterbury used 39 different players in 11 games and tried seven different goal-kickers as injuries took their toll. Jack says it was a great challenge playing in the ITM Cup.

"It was awesome to get exposure to the ITM Cup. The coaching was of a very high standard and every week was a great challenge. Marking Seta Tamanivalu against Taranaki was a real education. That guy is a beast who can offload in any direction at anytime."

Josh's good form in the ITM Cup earned him a call up for the New Zealand Sevens team. Previously he had played for the Northland Sevens team.

Initially Josh took a different direction to Jack after college. Despite making the New Zealand Schools' team in 2013, Josh decided to take a break in England for a "few months." Josh explains why:

"I went to Worcester to see my older brother Cameron. He is playing for the Premiership side over there. I played some rugby myself, but I wanted to have a bit of a break."

When Josh returned to New Zealand he honoured a promise to play for his local club in Kawakawa and earned captaincy of the Northland under-19's.

Kawakawa is where both boys were raised. Josh says it was a great place to grow up.
"It's really small, but peaceful. We were the token white boys which gave us a good perspective on things. We spent a lot of time outside playing footy, milking cows and that sort of thing."

Both boys followed past family members into Mount Albert Grammar School. In 2011 they made the First XV.

Mount Albert failed to make the 1A semi-finals in 2011, but both boys indentify a win that year as the most enjoyable they achieved at College. Josh explains:

"We beat Auckland Grammar 46-0. Everything clicked that day. It was just unbelievable."
Jack says, "I didn't play in that game, but remember watching it. It was so good."

2013 was the best season that both boys enjoyed at Mount Albert. Josh was captain and Jack vice captain. They led the side to 17 wins in 20 games. They held St. Kentigern College to a draw, the best result anybody achieved in three years between 2011 and 2013 against St. Kent's.

Mount Albert also beat Sacred Heart, Kelston BHS, Auckland Grammar, St. Peters College and Wesley College, but succumbed in the semi-finals. Josh describes what happened.

"It was one of those 'it could have been seasons.' We had a good team, we had our chances, but we were beaten by a better side in the semi-finals."

Josh has since joined Jack at Lincoln and is studying Human Resource Management. In his spare time Josh enjoys reading, especially Game of Thrones. Jack is active in the Salvation Army.