The Auckland Storm will have extra special reason to celebrate this Saturday 15 July in their first hit out of the Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse season with skipper Eloise Blackwell running out for her 75^th game and veteran Aldora Itunu playing her 50^th in the blue and white hoops.

The Storm takes on the Hawke’s Bay Tui at 12:05pm at Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park with their sights set on going one better this season and taking out the Premiership title.

While Ponsonby Fillies teammates Blackwell and Itunu will be marking a combined 125 games in the jersey, four up-and-comers will be making their debut for the Storm as part of the starting 15 and a further four potential debutants have been named on the bench.

Both Blackwell and Itunu have overcome their fair share of hurdles to boot up for what will be a remarkable set of achievements during the season opener. Blackwell was on track to play her 75th match during last season’s final versus Canterbury, however a blue card before the semi-final forced her to wait another year. Itunu was set to reach her 50th during the 2021 season, but a certain global pandemic placed her milestone on the backburner. She has since made a return to rugby after having a baby and is named to start at tighthead prop.

The pair enters the FPC season off the back of victory in the Auckland women’s premier club competition, winning the Coleman Shield with their side, the Ponsonby Fillies, just three weeks ago.

Saturday’s starting line-up also features two debutants in the forward pack, Mataele Vaea at blindside flanker and Mizuho Kataoka at openside flanker, and two debutants in the backline – Gillian Fa’aumu at first-five and France Bloomfield at second-five.

The Storm will be up for an exciting battle versus the Tui who earned promotion to the top grade after winning last season’s Championship Cup and are now under the tutelage of new head coach Sione Cherrington-Kite.

Watch live on Sky Sport 2 and Prime from 12:05pm Saturday 15 July.

Auckland Storm Squad for Round 1 (debutants in bold *)

Article added: Thursday 13 July 2023