Jayden Hayward is the odd man out in the Highlanders squad which will open the Super 14 competition against the Brumbies at Carisbrook on Friday night.
Hayward, from Hawera in Taranaki, is the only player in the 22 from outside Otago, Southland, Hawkes Bay and Manawatu.
He has been bracketed at second five-eighths with Johnny Leota, who has a rib problem and, even if Leota starts, he seems likely to get game time from the bench.
Which is confirmation that Hayward, a qualified electrician, has come a long way from this time last year when he had yet to play first-class rugby.
He played two seasons for Taranaki B, was given his first start for the top Taranaki team in the the third game of the Air New Zealand Cup last year and so far has not looked back.
He played nine matches for Taranaki and scored three tries, including dazzling individual efforts against Otago and in the quarter-final against Wellington.
He was watched closely by Highlanders coach Glenn Moore, who was impressed by what he saw.
"I think he'll go well at Super 14 level," said Moore. "He's a very, very talented player, an exciting prospect.
"He shows a lot of maturity. An example was the game against Wellington when he made a nice break, scored a try and got hit hard in a very heavy tackle.
"He had to go off for treatment but the first thing he did when he got back on was have another crack and make another break."
Now there is the prospect he will be up against Wallabies stars Stirling Mortlock and Adam Ashley-Cooper in his first professional match.
"Things have happened pretty quickly with rugby," said Hayward.
"I was lucky to make the Taranaki squad of 26 last year, than the squad of 22 and then the starting lineup. And now it's the Highlanders."
Hayward played rugby league from the age of four, alongside Kiwis and Rabbitohs hooker Isaac Luke, and also represented New Zealand at Touch at the Youth World Cup, before he concentrated on rugby.
He played at fullback for the Hawera High School first XV but, after playing at first five-eighths for his club, Eltham-Kaponga, he is now in his preferred number 12 jersey.
There are just three new Highlanders in the starting lineup, an indication of the continuity Moore has been able to achieve by retaining almost all his draft players.
They are the highly promising Hawkes Bay fullback Israel Dagg, Otago right wing Ben Smith, the only homegrown Otago player in the squad, and Southland lock Josh Bekhuis. Hayward will be the fourth if Leota has to pull out.
Southland has four players in the starting lineup, and four more in the reserves, a far cry from some previous seasons in which it has been sparsely represented.
"There is probably more interest in Southland now with a new maroon strip, two games in Invercargill and a number of Southland players in the team," said Highlanders vice-captain and Southland captain Jamie Mackintosh.
"It gives Southlanders more of a feeling it's their team as well.
"They maybe thought in the past Southland was the little brother and got the short end of the stick at times. It's definitely not the case now."
The Brumbies, who will be captained by No. 8 Stephen Hoiles, include 11 players with international experience.