Brad Weber has bolted home to Hawkes Bay but says he hopes to play for Otago in the near future.
The rising halfback had only just returned to Dunedin from New Zealand Under-20 duty at the world junior championships this week when he was whistled into the Magpies squad for the ITM Cup.
Weber (20), who has been studying health sciences at the University of Otago and playing for the Dunedin club, has been on a minor Hawkes Bay contract for two years.
He was half-hoping a loan deal could be arranged to keep him in the Otago system this year.
But the opportunity to play top provincial rugby sooner with his home province has emerged and is too good to turn down.
"Hawkes Bay has upgraded my contract to NPC status," Weber told the Otago Daily Times.
"That's quite exciting. I guess I feel on a bit of a roll with rugby and I just want to take the opportunity.
"I'd certainly like to come back. But whether Otago want me back or not is another story."
Weber signed his first contract with Hawkes Bay when he was playing First XV rugby at Napier Boys' High School.
"That contract gave me the financial support to come down here, which is where I wanted to study," he said.
"Looking back, I wish I didn't sign that contract. I'd rather have come to Otago and tried to get a contract here.
"But in saying that, I didn't really expect my rugby to accelerate that quickly."
Weber's studies have understandably taken a back seat. He missed his mid-year exams while in Italy with the New Zealand Under-20 team, and he is not sure when he will get back in the lecture theatre.
He started against Italy and Argentina at the world junior tournament, and got the last 20 minutes of the final as New Zealand beat England 33-22.
"We were pretty confident but we knew teams would be after us.
"We couldn't just turn up and win. We really had to work for it and I think we played really well."
