Māori All Blacks halfback and co-captain Brad Weber hopes to inspire those who may not 'look Māori' to explore their whakapapa and learn about their heritage.
Weber is no stranger to the Māori All Blacks set up, after debuting for the representative team in 2015 and earning nine caps since.
Alongside fellow halfback TJ Perenara, he was named co-captain and started in their win over Ireland at Hamilton a fortnight ago.
Weber, 31, who is of Ngāti Porou descent, has relished the opportunity of being part of the Māori All Blacks and notes the influence it has had at home.
"It's been a few years since I've been here, but every time I'm in, I love it," he said. "I know I'm one of the brothers that doesn't look Māori, but have always known about my heritage and this is the time for me to learn about that stuff, which is awesome.
"I feel like I represent a lot of people out there learning about their Māori whakapapa.
"I want to keep learning, and not just leave it to this time and here, and inspire more people like me to do the same, because I love how more of the Māori stuff is becoming more used. I'm a big fan of that, I wish it was like that when I was growing up.
"I just try to make the most of my two weeks here, so much so, that it has inspired other people in my family to dig deeper into our Māori heritage.
"That's been my proudest part of being in this side, I'm learning more about myself."
The Māori All Blacks were defeated in their second game against Ireland, but have shown again they can hang with rugby's tier one nations.
Head coach Clayon McMillan hopes more fixtures against test teams will provide further opportunity for players to explore their Māori heritage.
"A lot of people come in here nervous as hell," he said. "If you're whakapapa, you're whakapapa - it's as simple as that.
"People do come into the environment really nervous about a bunch of things, but you see them the next year or the year after, and they walk into the environment like they own the place.
"That just shows how important, not from a rugby sense, but from an individual human growth sense that people use this as a vehicle to explore their whakapapa and one of the proudest things about my involvement in the team is seeing that."
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