Rugby comes home
The Battle of Trafalgar
Rugby came home to Nelson on Saturday night, 148 years after the first game was played on New Zealand soil.
They came all the way from Brightwater, Blenheim, and Buenos Aires to be a part of the city’s rugby history.
The centre of New Zealand became rugby central, just a few blocks down from where the sport kicked off at the Botanics Ground in 1870.
This time around, the team in the blue hoops belonged to Argentina rather than Nelson College, while the All Blacks took on the role of Nelson Town, the winners of the original contest.
But there were no real losers on Saturday night, with all 21,404 spectators going home happy from the match, won by the All Blacks 46-24.
The festivities started early in the day, with people flocking to the fan trail on Trafalgar St after 1pm. Traffic had been blocked off, and the street was filled up with food, fans, and fun.
Amongst the crowds, there were street performers, limbo competitions, and a drum circle providing the beat on 1903 Square.
Nelson resident Jasmine Jenke said she had never seen the city like this before.
‘‘It’s a cool vibe, Nelson is never this packed – not even at New Year’s time.’’
Kay Paterson from Ruby Bay was among a group of tango dancers putting on a performance in the middle of the street.
She was throwing her support behind the Argentinian team to even up the odds a bit.
‘‘I’m loving the hype, it’s been an excellent place for people to come to.’’
Tasman Mako Alex Ainley was another enjoying the pregame atmosphere.
The local players had ‘‘not been allowed near’’ the new pitch, and he was keen to experience it ahead of this Friday’s clash with Taranaki. ‘‘Hopefully we will get a similar-sized crowd,’’ he joked.
Overlooking the crowd from the Cathedral steps, Nick Dalgety said it was a special moment.
‘‘This is the outcome of Charles Monro coming back to New Zealand with that rugby ball in 1870.
‘‘It’s fantastic to see them come back to the heartland.’’
Others had come from further afield to make the game.
Sebastian Maestre flew in from Argentina on Friday for the game, where he met two countrymen, Pablo Abdo and Valentin Gomez, on the flight from Auckland.
Maestre said the 13-hour flight from his home in Cordoba was worth it.
It was Chilean exchange student Oscar Canseco’s first time in the South Island, travelling down from Tolaga Bay on the East Coast.
While Chile and Argentina have a rivalry similar to the trans-Tasman one, Canseco said he was backing blue.
‘‘Rugby is everything for me, that’s my excuse to come.’’
Directly across from the stadium, Keith Hill had decked out his historic home with lights and flags.
He had an open home for friends, and had also welcomed in some visiting Argentinians.
‘‘We greet them with hola, and have a laugh,’’ he said.
With a background in hospitality, Hill said he hoped the city would stage more big events.
He was expecting to have to clean his front yard when he woke up yesterday morning but had no complaints.
‘‘It’s been awesome to see, there’s been no trouble. Town was humming, it’s been great for Nelson.’’
Just as well there’s nothing bashful about Shannon Frizell’s footy. The big blindside flanker remains very shy when it comes to talking but he more than introduced himself to a few Pumas on Saturday night, with some bruising runs across the Trafalgar Park turf.
Frizell was one of the All Blacks’ stand-out performers, as they beat Argentina 46-24 in Nelson, showing a particular ability to run off short-balls from lock Scott Barrett.
‘‘I’m proud of my efforts but playing with the best in the world makes your job easy,’’ Frizell said, after scoring a try in New Zealand’s comfortable win.
At 1.95m and 108kgm Frizell’s workrate was impressive for a big man. Particularly, one who’d been in the squad for six test matches but, till now, had made one appearance off the bench.
‘‘I couldn’t wait to be out there and play at home,’’ said the Tongan, who plays his provincial rugby for the Nelsonbased Tasman Mako.
His performance definitely impressed All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. Along with that of fellow flanker Ardie Savea.
‘‘You couldn’t be anything other than extremely happy with him,’’ Hansen said of Frizell.
‘‘Did we plan to give him 80 minutes? Probably not. Did he go 80 minutes? Yep, he did, and at one point I thought I’m not sure if he’s going to get there and then he got his second wind and he and Ardie, I thought, were outstanding. In that last 15 minutes, they found another cog and carried well for us.
‘‘But he [Frizell] can be really satisfied, on reflection, with how well he’s gone and I think he’s got a big future.’’
Frizell was prominent with ball in hand. The team, particularly in the first, looked for him to carry on multiple occasions. He’s still raw and has things to learn on defence but he was strong over the ball at times and there’s plenty for Hansen and co to work with there.
As there is with Savea, who appears to be coming back to the form of a year or two ago. Matt Todd appeared to take the role of Sam Cane’s understudy away from Savea last season but Todd is now playing in Japan and Savea is showing some real all round quality.
Cane sat out the Argentina game, to further recover from the head knock he suffered against Australia on August 25 but you’d assume he’ll now come back into the mix to meet South Africa in Wellington on Saturday.
If not, Hansen should have no qualms about picking Savea again.
‘‘He [Frizell] can be really satisfied, on reflection, with how well he’s gone and I think he’s got a big future.’’
Steve Hansen on Shannon Frizell