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Hadleigh Parkes back in New Zealand, named on weekend NPC bench
By Liam Heagney
Former Wales midfielder Hadleigh Parkes is poised for NPC action this weekend in New Zealand after being confirmed as a new Manawatu Turbos signing and being named on their bench as 23rd man to take on Hawke’s Bay on Sunday. The soon to be 37-year-old finished up finished a four-season stint earlier this year in Japan League One, spending two years with Saitama Wild Knights after joining from Scarlets and then two more campaigns with Black Rams Tokyo.
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It was last May when he most recently featured for the Rams, playing off their bench in a 45-18 loss to Toyota Verblitz which left them finishing the 2023/24 season in 10th place.
Having since holidayed post-season in Turkey and Greece, Parkes has now been unveiled as a Manawatu player for the remainder of an NPC campaign where the club are currently bottom of the 14-team tournament’s standings after losing their opening three matches.
A club post to social media said: “Look who’s back. 29-Test Welsh international Hadleigh Parkes has returned home and is a Turbo again.”
It was 2010 when Parkes previously represented the province at NPC level, making 13 appearances before switching to Auckland. He then went on to play Super Rugby for the Blues, Southern Kings and the Hurricanes before moving to the Scarlets in 2014/15.
After qualifying for the Welsh national team in 2017 on serving a three-year residency period, he won 29 caps, including a 2019 Six Nations title win and featuring in their run to that year’s Rugby World Cup semi-final.
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Now back home in New Zealand, Parkes has been named in a Turbos team where George Blake and Liam O’Connor are set to get their first starts.
Mosese Bason, a recent Baby Blacks pick at the World Rugby U20 Champions, could also make his debut off a bench that also includes Vernon Bason, who skippered Jono Gibbes team to a third-place finish at the age-grade tournament in South Africa.
