New Zealand Rugby are chasing the signature of a South African-born sprinter who has clocked 10.09s in the 100m.
Paul Roos Gymnasium old boy Tiaan Whelpton, 22, confirmed in an interview with Stuff.co.nz that NZ Rugby has approached him about the possibility of joining the All Blacks sevens program.
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The 1.96m whippet, who relocated to New Zealand with his family in 2018, reportedly gained citizenship in 2020 and is open to making a switch to rugby once his track days are over.
“People have talked about rugby,” Whelpton said. “I used to be more of a rugby player growing up. I played at a pretty high level in both England and South Africa, and went to one of the biggest rugby schools in the world in Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch.
“There’s certainly a lot of rugby there. My dad was a rugby player himself, and I’ve spoken to some guys at New Zealand sevens. But my heart lies in athletics and I’m going to take that as far as I can.
“Who knows? Maybe once I’m done with athletics, once I’ve broken the 10-second barrier, maybe I could be the first sub-10 rugby player…”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if one day he does run under 10 seconds. He’s got all the gifts to be able to do that really. He’s a mega talent,” said Whelpton’s athletics coach, Andrew Maclennan.
According to the report, Whelpton was a keen rugby player in his youth, but turned to sprinting when he was 17.
“I shocked everyone at school winning the inter-school meets. From there I went to the South African national finals and came fifth in the under-18 category [for 100m].”
Photo: @AthleticsNZ