Canes eye up game in Wairarapa
As the crowd drifted away from the Border Rugby Club on Friday, a familiar tune rang out.
Turned out the cake, candles and song were in honour of Hurricanes back Jordie Barrett, whose mum Robyn had done the baking to celebrate her baby boy’s 20th birthday.
The Super Rugby preseason match between the Hurricanes and Crusaders had been quite an occasion for the the Barretts, with three boys playing and parents and grandparents among the 4500 who’d packed into Dallison Park. The Hurricanes don’t get up to Taranaki much anymore and it doesn’t sound like they’ll be back in 2017.
Instead they’re likely to return to Wairarapa, where they’ve successfully staged a number of preseason matches.
‘‘I think the ideal situation is to go back to Mangatainoka, but you’ve got to make sure the infrastructure’s appropriate,’’ Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee said.
After staging matches in one of his paddocks, Mangatainoka farmer Neil Symonds needed a spell and Masterton and Eketahuna played host instead.
The beauty of the rural locations is they allow fans to see players at a proximity only touch judges and ball boys usually enjoy. But the spectators also need to be fed and watered, to have sufficient bathrooms and to get to and from the venue without endangering themselves or anyone else. The list goes on.
‘‘You want the fans to be safe, you want the players to be safe. That’s the minimum.
‘‘So you’ve got to do your due diligence and ask all the tough question. It’s always about people having fun, but you can’t have somebody get hurt either.’’
Systems that suffice at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium won’t in a place such as Waverley, but Friday’s event appeared to go without a hitch.
‘‘Waverley’s a town of 800 and we had 4500 so we’re really happy,’’ Lee said.
‘‘Grassroots rugby is the strength of New Zealand rugby - I don’t care what anyone says - and just seeing all the faces of the locals and seeing how excited they were to see two quality rugby teams having a crack at each other is a great feeling.’’
The playing surface was in tremendous order and a credit to the Border Rugby Club and their volunteers and everyone appeared to enjoy it, including the Hurricanes. They begin their Super Rugby title defence against the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Saturday and will depart with genuinely warm feelings about the people and region they’re playing for.
‘‘A big part of this for us is giving something back and playing in front of people that don’t normally get to watch the Hurricanes or Crusaders up close,’’ said Lee.