Ageless Kiwi rugby pro to continue at 42
Dan Carter’s still running round at 38, Alex Ainley’s nudging 39 and Brad Thorn finished at 41 – but they’ve all got nothing on Nelson’s former England sevens international Mark Bright, who’ll be lacing up his boots at 42 in English pro rugby’s second tier with no end in sight.
The former Tasman Mako No 8 still turns out for English Championship second tier club London Scottish, and has signed on for another campaign after the Covid-19 pandemic season shutdown.
Bright, who made his first-class debut with Nelson Bays in 2001, turns 42 in September – which makes him almost three years older than Ainley, his former Tasman team-mate, who hit the headlines this week by signing for the Crusaders just before his 39th birthday.
A former England Commonwealth Games sevens representative, Bright has agreed another one-year contract with London Scottish, and reckons he’s still in reasonable shape.
‘‘I’ve probably been training even more since Covid, doing circuits and weights at home, and park runs,’’ said
Bright, who told The Rugby Paper that he started working life ‘‘crawling around the bottom of fishing boats doing crappy jobs’’.
‘‘I want my kids to stay in sport as long as possible,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m trying to be a good role model for them and show that if you are in a good shape physically and mentally, age is just a number.’’
‘‘It is a pretty big thing for me to still be able to get a contract offer at the age of 41 going on 42,’’ he said.
Bright comes from a respected Nelson sporting family. His father, Brent, won the New Zealand light featherweight boxing title in 1971, and played senior club rugby for Celtic, winning a Nelson championship alongside his younger brother, Danny, a New Zealand Country Districts representative softball catcher.
Mark Bright played for the Nelson College XV and soon made his mark with Nelson Bays in the national second division before the province merged with Marlborough to form the Tasman Mako.
He had 52 games in the Mako back row from 2006 to 20011, and played back-toback seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres for many years after signing for Cornish club Redruth in
2006.
Bright first joined London Scottish in
2011, but later had a stint with London rivals Ealing Trailfinders, before returning to the Scottish ‘Exiles’ in 2018.
Proving age is no barrier, Bright was called into the England sevens team (after meeting residency criteria) for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, two months before blowing out the candles on his 36th birthday cake.
He played in six games, helping England win the plate final after a 15-7 pool play loss to Australia.
Bright has played over 200 games in the English Championship and the London Scottish website asserted the Kiwi is one of the most popular players in the competition.
The 1.91m, 107kg forward admits he’s been lucky with injuries and told The Rugby Paper that playing year-round had helped him avoid ‘‘all those mindless preseasons’’.
He told the London Scottish website the enforced shutdown during the Covid19 pandemic was ‘‘the longest break away from playing I’ve had for probably 20 years, I’m very old!’’
London Scottish – whose alumni include former Scotland internationals Gavin Hastings, Alastair McHarg, Kenny Logan, Stewart Wilson and Damian Cronin – have switched from a fulltime professional outfit to part-time. Bright supports the move.
‘‘I think the part-time option is what’s best for the club going forward. As players, we will have to adapt to working during the day and training at night, but I’m sure it won’t be too difficult for us to get used to.’’
London Scottish director of rugby Matt Williams said Bright’s ‘‘CV speaks for itself’’.
‘‘To still be able to stamp his authority on a Championship match is a huge credit to himself, both from a mental and physical stand point,’’ Williams told the club’s website.
‘‘Mark was my key first retention as nothing bleeds tartan as much as him.’’
‘‘I want my kids to stay in sport as long as possible. I’m trying to be a good role model for them and show that if you are in a good shape physically and mentally, age is just a number.’’ Mark Bright