Tanerau Latimer's presence at Jamieson Oval on Saturday barely caused a ripple among the Rangiuru faithful.

To them, he's just plain old "Lats" - a pretty good footy player, sure enough, but a regular face down at the club when his rugby commitments allow - humble and ridiculously approachable.

The wide eyes on Saturday, however, belonged to the Kahukura opposition. As members of another former premier club languishing in Baywide's division one, the last thing the visitors expected to see was an All Black flanker in the opposition.

"Some of our players hadn't even been to Jamieson Oval, let alone play against an All Black," Kahukura captain Brad Savage explained. "It was an honour and a privilege for all of us. I'd been wondering over the past few days whether he was going to front up for his club so to see him here as we starting warming up was pretty awesome.

"Some of the younger boys were just buzzing."

It used to be as common as mid-winter mud - Bay of Plenty All Blacks like Hika Reid, Gary Braid and Frank Shelford were regular club players.

Rugby's global, professional seasons have put paid to that and it was with a twinge of regret that Latimer admitted it's been nearly three years since he pulled on the blue and white hoops of the only club he's ever played for.

He soon made amends in Saturday's match, almost apologetically stealing possession at will from the tough Kahukura pack. Rangiuru coaching staff counted at least nine clean steals in the 28-13 win, despite some decent pressure from the visitors.

Latimer's calm professionalism was the perfect foil for Rangiuru's youthful ranks, outrageously under-exposed talent like first-five Sasu Wihapi and 17-year-old fullback Ngatai Kingi.

Both oozed raw potential in the win, scoring tries and keeping Rangiuri well in touch with division one leaders Waikite.

For Latimer, it was the perfect way to overcome the disappointment of missing out on the first All Black squad of the year, selected instead for the New Zealand Maori side.

"It takes a bit of getting used to - often the boys were not quite where you expect them to be but you've just got to roll with that and not get too isolated," he said. "It's good, keen club rugby though and it's great to be back."

The Maori side doesn't assemble for another week, meaning he could well fit another game in against Ngongotaha this Saturday.

Savage, 32, a wily veteran of 15 seasons of Baywide rugby, reckons a lot of the young future stars of the game could learn a lot from Latimer's unwavering loyalty.

"It just seems that players these days lack a bit of backbone, they like to go to teams that are going forward and ignore the struggling clubs that really need them. I've got a huge amount of respect for Lats though - I really take my hat off to him."