It’s not everyday people get to train with legendary rugby icons, let alone their favorite player.
But it’s exactly what 10-year-old Sage Claridge of Paeroa got to experience when she trained alongside notable Gallagher Chiefs Team players on April 24 as part of a Skills & Drills session at Bay Oval, Tauranga.
The promising rugby player told The Profile she was nervous and excited when she first stepped foot on the field.
The year-6 Netherton School student said her goals in rugby were to get better at gripping on tackles and stealing the ball back. The young athlete trained alongside Ollie Norris, Daniel Rona, Xavier Roe, Samisoni Taukei’aho, Samipeni Finau, Damian McKenzie and her favourite player – Naitoa Ah Kuoi.
But rugby wasn’t just a thing to do – it ran in Sage’s family.
Her brother, Crue Anderton, 18, also got to train alongside the Chiefs players when he was Sage’s age.

Samantha Anderton, Sage’s mum, said there was an opportunity for people to register their kids online to join the training session, which was sponsored by First Windows and Doors, and Sage was selected alongside around 50 other kids.
Samantha said there were freebies, a goodie bag, sausage sizzle and an opportunity to get signatures and take photos with the players afterward.
It’s something the Chiefs players did every season, she said. “[It’s] such a cool thing that they offer the kids.”
One moment from the Skills & Drills session where Sage said she felt most confident was when she made a new friend.
The friend asked Sage if she could do handstands and the rest was history.
But when it came to the challenges, the rugby player said the biggest one was “shaking off all the nerves”.

One way the group of young rugby allstars got to shake off the nerves was during the ice breaker at the start of the session when “Naitoa made us scream and dance”, she said.
If Sage could choose someone to be her coach, she said she’d pick Naitoa because “he’s funny and a good player”.
But if Sage had the opportunity to train with any other rugby player, she said she would pick Anton Lienert-Brown.
Bullrush was the activity Sage said she enjoyed most, and felt proud when her team won.
But her highlight was when Naitoa told her she looked like Ruby Tui, who was Sage’s favorite Chiefs Manawa player, she said.
For other kids who want to play rugby, Sage said it’s so fun.
“Just give it a go!”

