THE GRADE THAT IS SAVING CLUB RUGBY
Jono Willis used to be a senior first five with the Dunedin club in his uni days, but now he calls the front row home in Auckland’s under 85kg grade. He’s packing down at hooker despite being the same weight he was when he pulled in the No10 jersey. The 34-year-old Auckland lawyer lines up every weekend for the College Rifles Raiders, and says the pace of the game is what attracted him to commit most of his career to the weight restricted grade.
“It’s a bit harder, it’s a bit soft in that open-weight stuff,” he says, cheekily, after a two-hour long training at the Remuera-based club. He showed up a decade ago
