Dad is Southland’s most capped player with 143 games in maroon and the 45-year-old hooker is still going strong for his beloved Woodlands club.
With relatives like that, Gregor Rutledge was never going to play football during the winter.
The 17-year-old will captain Southland Boys’ at the New Zealand First XV top four finals.
They are up against home team Palmerston North Boys’ in the second semifinal tomorrow afternoon.
Westlake Boys’ play Tauranga Boys’ in the earlier semifinal.
Like granddad Leicester and father Jason, Gregor is blessed with the gene for getting stuck in.
The openside flanker’s willingness to keep running and keep battling have been instrumental in Southland Boys’ run.
They are not the biggest team or a side chock full of stars but their set pieces are solid and they like to get it wide. And they are gutsy.
It is a style the team hope will be successful.
"The last two games were pretty tough and it was definitely tough on the team," Gregor said.
"But we’ve had a week off to recover after that big game against Christchurch Boys’ and we are really looking forward to the top four.
"Everyone is pretty keen to show what we are all about."
Gregor has been playing rugby "as long as I can remember".
His dad has had an enormous influence on his game and this year even more so.
Jason has been assisting the Southland Boys’ coaching staff, focusing on helping the pack make improvements to its scrum. He has also taken the hookers under his wing and you do not get too many more experienced wingmen.
He has played more than 250 games for Woodlands and is not done yet.
There is one really significant milestone the family would like to achieve.
"He is still planning on playing for Woodlands [next year] and hopefully I can play alongside him as well."
That would be special — a father and son playing premier club rugby together.
There is a tiny snag, though. The younger Rutledge plans to move to Dunedin next year to study health science.
That would put him on a similar route as a host of other players who have migrated north to attend university and ended up playing for Otago.
Gregor cannot see a golden O on his chest in the future, though.
"I don’t know if I could do that. I don’t know how that would go down if I ended up playing for the blue and gold given my family’s history with Southland.
"But there definitely has been a lot of Southland boys who ended up playing for Otago."
Rutledge will set the tone for Southland Boys’, but winger Kiseki Fifita is another talented player. He scored three tries against Christchurch Boys’ in the tense 29-28 win.
Lock Thomas Spain is a key figure in the tight five and the Muliaina brothers, Rico (fullback) and Mika (first five), are instrumental as well.
First XV top four
The semifinals
Westlake Boys’ v Tauranga Boys’, tomorrow, 1.10pm
Palmerston North Boys’ v Southland Boys’, tomorrow, 2.45pm
Southland Boys’ squad: Rico Muliaina, Jimmy Taylor, Preston Evans, Amaziah Mitchell, Kiseki Fifita, Mika Muliaina, Noah Sutton, Justin Shaw, Gregor Rutledge, Fraser Wilson, TJ Gallen, Thomas Spain, Ethan Brock, Hoani Nikora-Wilson, Jayton Fisher, Thomas Jennings, Presley McHugh, Matt Johnson, Josh Cairns, Lachie Riley, Jordan O’Connell, Phoenix McKay, Jak Morton
