College’s Cup trifecta

An All Black, a head coach and a referee – Marlborough has the Rugby World Cup stage pretty well covered.

The top of the south district, often dubbed the wine capital of New Zealand, is better known for its conveyor belts of grapes than rugby talent.

But Marlborough Boys’ College old boys Atu Moli, Jamie Joseph and Ben O’keeffe are all flying the Marlborough flag in Japan.

All Blacks prop Moli took the field against Canada in pool play, while Joseph had gained plaudits for taking Japan to their first quarterfinal. O’keefe was the youngest referee at the Rugby World Cup, although he did come under fire for appearing to high five a Fiji player after a try against Australia.

Former head boy Atu Moli said from Japan he grew up to love Marlborough, the people there and what his former school stood for.

‘‘Christchurch Boys’, Christ’s College, those top schools that had all of the scholarship players, we didn’t have that.

‘‘In 2013, when we won [The Press Cup] for the first time ... it was pretty awesome to make that statement, that you didn’t have to have all of the fancy gear or money to get players, you just work with what you’ve got.’’

His highlight though was having his mum and dad, still based in Blenheim, in Japan.

‘‘They don’t really go out or travel, but I was lucky enough to get them over here and it was quite a special moment when they saw me playing in the black jersey for the first time, especially in the Rugby World Cup,’’ Moli said.

Former Marlborough premier club coach Baz Henare said having the boys over in Japan was ‘‘something pretty special’’.

‘‘I was fortunate to know Atu when he was in the first XV and coach some of his family,’’ Henare said.

‘‘What they’re doing, for boys and girls, is showing there is a pathway to the very top, it’s pretty huge, especially for our youth.’’

Henare said Jamie Joseph was one of his coaching mentors ‘‘back in the day’’.

‘‘He took a couple of us that were from Marlborough under his wing, there’s an aura or a certain mana that surrounds Jamie,’’ Henare said.

‘‘He’s brought a lot to every team he’s coached . . . for Japan to make the quarterfinals was unbelievable and Jamie is at the forefront of it.’’

Joseph attended Marlborough Boys’ for his first year of high school, before moving to Church College of New Zealand in Hamilton. He went on to represent the All Blacks, the Ma¯ ori All Blacks and the Japanese national side before he turned to coaching in 2003.

Tasman Mako assistant coach and Marlborough Boys’ College teacher Gray Cornelius said the three Marlburians showed it was possible to come from a small community and compete on the world stage. ‘‘I’m sure the support these guys have received from the Marlborough community has helped them, I think it’s really special.’’