Coastal Rugby Club is poised for one of the biggest games in Taranaki club rugby history, with All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett returning to where it all began.
Newshub can reveal Barrett will play his first game of competitive rugby in five months on April 4, running out for his home club.
The appearance will serve as the precursor to Barrett's Blues debut on April 11 against his former team, the Hurricanes.
The All Blacks and Blues first-five hasn't played for Coastal in 10 years and club chairwoman Janet Fleming was proud to have him back.
"We love the fact that Beauden loves coming home," Fleming told Newshub.
"The entire Barrett family have long been loyal supporters of Coastal and we always enjoy having them back."
Fleming acknowledged the occasion would draw a huge crowd at the Rahotu ground in coastal Taranaki.
"We're playing Southern, which is a big derby match for us, so it always draws a large crowd," she said. "Having Beauden playing in it is likely to pack the ground out completely."
Barrett's been eager to play since taking a sabbatical, after the All Blacks' failed World Cup campaign in Japan last year.
Last week, Newshub revealed Barrett would make an earlier-than-expected return to rugby for the Blues at Eden Park in Round 11.
Barrett is so eager to get back to rugby, he cancelled a trip to the US Masters golf tournament at Augusta, as well as this months' Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne.
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