Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini – the success of our team is not that of an individual but that of a collective, we are all one whānau in this together.

Being able to whakapapa Māori hasn’t been something I’ve been proud of all my life, although... 

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The first tricky and somewhat sticky situation in my life, so I was told, was having a big head at birth. Apparently, my poor mother, who had me in a Catholic hospital run by nuns, wasn’t able to access pain relief for some reason, so my rather large head presented quite a problem for her...

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Identity, connection, whānau, whakapapa! All these things are part of the make-up of our given names. People, places and even animals also hold these connections. A name is our legacy to leave for the future.

So where did the name Whitianga originate and what is its connection to the past?

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This word is often bandied around without much thought for what it really means. To try and understand what biodiversity is, let's look at what it isn't.

Modern farming has devolved into growing one variety of grass recommended by MAF. We used to have ‘meadows’, now it is all controlled ‘pasture’.

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Cisgender – a term we are seeing more than ever as the internet becomes saturated with the ongoing gender debate. The term has become emotively weaponised as its original meaning is twisted through bias and misinformation.

So what does ‘cisgender’ actually mean and why are we seeing so much recoil from it?

‘Cisgender’ is relatively new in terms of the evolution of our language.

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With his Smokefree Rockquest winning band, the free breakfast initiative he kickstarted at his school, and his first place essay in a recent writing competition, 17-year-old Sage Garrett’s gender identity is the least interesting thing about him.

Sage is a transgender man who transitioned fairly early in his life...

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I’m a professional rugby player here in Scotland. We travel to play games across Ireland, Wales, Italy and South Africa in the United Rugby Championship, as well as Europe games in the Champions Cup.

What about the culture where you are do you like the most?

Edinburgh is great, there is always lots happening, and it has such a rich history. 

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Common Ground is a space dedicated to expression.

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In my never-ending pursuit to eradicate ‘621’ from my diet, my awareness of its use is acute as I currently travel Indonesia; Monosodium Glutamate is everywhere, and my body can feel it! That’s MSG to the lay-person, and it’s labelled number 621 on ingredients lists.

There are others too that appear pretty consistently on ingredients lists, so...

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My first experience refereeing was at a young age when I helped my father, who was coaching my brother’s rugby team, to referee a game. I kept playing rugby after that, but at the age of 14, I realised I was over rep rugby/touch and having to train all the time. so I decided I wanted to referee more. I went back to playing, but at 17, I decided just to be a referee. 

After more than ten years of playing rugby, being the man in the middle

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