Shield victory leaves coach’s legs wobbling
When the fulltime whistle blew to signify Manawatu’s maiden Ranfurly Shield victory, coach Graham Hamer was so overcome by emotion he could not physically get onto the field to celebrate with the team.
The side beat Auckland 12-10 on August 21, 1976 at Eden Park to start their two-year shield reign.
It was only his second season in the job having been promoted from coaching Kia Toa in 1975.
‘‘I was only a new boy on the block and had not coached at the representative level,’’ he said.
‘‘I had three All Blacks at the time and a fair few new guys who I had to sort out. When ‘76 came along, I felt like I had done my sorting.’’
Heading into the ‘76 season, he set winning the shield as their target rather than claiming the newly formed national provincial championship title.
The start of the season got off to a shaky start, but the team was hitting their straps as the Ranfurly Shield challenge drew near.
Belief within Manawatu was strong with 2500 supporters making the trip north to watch the game, but Hamer said few others were giving them a chance.
‘‘We really went into it thinking that we had a 50-50 chance,’’ he said.
Auckland put on a strong display, but Manawatu matched them.
‘‘We were in it for the whole time. We actually should have been well ahead.
‘‘I think Doug Rollerson missed about five shots at goal in the first half.’’
But when Auckland took the lead late, nerves started to set in on the sideline,
‘‘I remember in the stands when they scored, one of our reserves, Grant Bowater, said ‘That’s it, we’re done’.
‘‘I said ‘Don’t worry, all we have to do is get back into their half and we have every chance of pulling it off’.’’
And that is exactly what happened.
With the forwards leading the charge, Manawatu charged into Auckland’s half and Rollerson knocked over a ‘‘lame duck’’ dropped goal to seal the win.
That is when the full emotion of the occasion set in for Hamer.
‘‘I got down under the grandstand to come out to where they were going to present the shield and I actually could not get out onto the park. My legs were just shaking like jelly.
‘‘I did not actually get out to be with them as Duncan Hales received the shield. From then on it was a pretty hectic night.’’
Included in the post-match celebrations was a visit to Hamer’s old club, the Eden Rugby Club which was just up the road from the stadium.
‘‘The whole place was just absolutely crowded out. The thing that hit me most was that all the Eden members were just so elated and were coming up and congratulating us.
‘‘You would not think they were Aucklanders and we had just taken the shield from them.’’
That was only the start of the celebrations, with the team getting a hero’s welcome when they arrived back in Palmerston North.