Hurricanes and All Black superstar Nehe Milner-Skudder has taken the greatest prize of world rugby to the East Coast. Ngāti Porou has become the first iwi to officially welcome the William Webb Ellis Cup to the summit of the ancestral mountain, Hikurangi.
The pinnacle of world rugby excellence upon Mt. Hikurangi for the very first time Ngati Porou is the first tribe to welcome the William Webb Ellis Cup in this fashion.
“Huge for me because it’s my first time up the mountain as well, what a better time to come up an dbring this fulla (Cup) as well”, says Nehe Milner-Skudder.
The pelting Ruatoria rain could by no means dampen the imminent arrival of the William Webb Ellis Cup to Hikurangi, at Te Takapau a Māui this morning, and who better else to accompany him to the top than one of the finest All Blacks of this region.
“It’s awesome to come back home bro, I’ve obviously got a lot of family ties back up this way so, yeah looking forward to the day and getting out into the community and show off this fulla(Cup) as well, so looking forward to it”, says Nehe Milner-Skudder.
And when someone returns home, chances are they are always likely to bump in to family. A rousing ceremonial welcome from the students of Ngata Memorial College, and their principal, Nehe's mum.
“The children have been waiting a long time for Nehe to come. They always ask: when is Nehe coming? I would say to them: well that's up to him. When they heard both he and Wayne (Smith) were coming with the Rugby World Cup, which was amazing”, says Heneriata Milner.
That's the main objective for Milner-Skudder today. To encourage the youth of the East Coast region to excel in all walks of life.
“It’s a small community but they go hard, it’s similar to us as a country, I guess on the world map we’re a little tiny dot but yeah we still achieve some big things”, says Nehe Milner-Skudder.
Milner-Skudder is not expected to be back from injury until October, the good news is he has a lot more time now to serve his community.
“Even some of the old koroua are getting emotional about it and yeah it makes me buzz out a bit. We’re here for the week and everyone can see it and touch it and get photos with it (cup)”, says Nehe Milner-Skudder.
And who knows when exactly the Webb Ellis Cup will again be back in the heartland of Ngāti Porou.