An East Coast love affair.
Neil Reid looks at the history of Ngati Porou East Coast as they celebrate 100 years of rugby.
WITHIN minutes of stepping into the victorious East Coast dressing room after the 1999 Third Division final it was obvious that this was a provincial team like no other.
Thirty minutes earlier and East Coast had made history; claiming their first piece of NPC silverware after beating neighbours and arch-rivals Poverty Bay 18-15 in nail-biting fashion at Whakarua Park.
While the focus of most Kiwi rugby fans was on the following day’s Rugby World Cup quarter final between the All Blacks and Scotland at Murrayfield, 5000 people packed into the humble heartland venue for the biggest match in East Coast’s history.
A first time visitor to the region,
I had headed down to do a feature on the team - who had been long-time provincial battlers - regardless of the result.
Whakarua Park is the spiritual home of rugby on the East Coast. It’s rich history includes it being the location of the posthumous Victoria Cross investiture hui for 2nd Lieutenant Moana-Nui-a-Kiwi Ngarimu; the first Maori soldier to be awarded the highest and most prestigious award a New Zealand soldier can earn for valour.
And on October 24 1999, the spirits were definitely on the side of the team decked out in Sky Blue.
Incredibly, East Coast had the wind for the full 80 minutes of the match. The wind changed directions at halftime, something locals still swear was thanks to some divine intervention from Ngati Porou guardians looking
THE ‘THIRD HALF’ OF ANY CLASH ON THE COAST IS CARRIED OUT IN THE KITCHEN.’
down on the ground from Mt Hikurangi. Late in the game first-five Victor Taingahue - who with his peroxide blonde hair and solid build, which led to him being nicknamed ‘Chunky’, was to become a grassroots rugby cult hero - used the elements to slot the match-winning dropped goal.
By the time I walked into the East Coast dressing room Taingahue and his team-mates were necking bottles of Steinlager - a drop so popular on the Coast it has been said the area had the highest consumption of any region per capita anywhere in the world.
Among them was halfback Johnny Nukunuku, who when asked how he would celebrate the historic win, proudly proclaimed: “I am going to drink a lot of green bottles, and the iwi will carry me home”.
Next to him was captain fantastic Wirihana Raihana.
Raihana was already making plans for what he was going to do with his gold winner’s medal; booking a dentist’s appointment so he could get a sliver of his precious sporting momento made into a much-needed filling.
“That way I can wear it around forever,” he laughed.
They were not the kind of responses you would get from players from First Division teams I was used to dealing with. And even back in 1999, you could pretty much forget about getting access to players in the dressing sheds at those provinces too.
But by far the most personal story from the scenes of sheer jubilation came from loose forward Horace Lewis; a one-time tourist to the Pacific Islands with New Zealand Maori.
Earlier in the year Lewis had travelled to the East Coast with the Wayne Shelford-coached North Harbour on a pre-season camp.
After spending precious time with many of his whanau from the East Coast, including half-brother Raihana, he withdrew from the North Harbour squad, got a job in the Hawke’s Bay and linked with the ‘Sky Blues’.
“I met my whanau and relatives and decided to come home,” ‘Horse’ told me.
His commitment to the side saw him complete a 300km drive twice a week just to attend training sessions.
“Everyone reckons I’m mad travelling so far for training. But hey, we won the Third Division so it’s been worth it.”
The following year his commitment to the jersey saw him hitchhike from Hastings to Gisborne on the morning of the combined East Coast-Poverty Bay team - which he captained - clash with Scotland.
Lewis - who went on to play almost 100 games for the province, and also coached them - epitomised so much of what is great about East Coast rugby.
The East Coast jersey was his battle dress. And like other players who have donned the jersey, he looked upon his team-mates as members of a staunch brotherhood. That ethos continues today in the team.
And Lewis - who sadly passed away in 2019 - showed just how far he would go for his mates during their 2001 debut season in the Second Division.
While on an overnight stopover on the way back home after a match on the road, East Coast’s Koro Ngarimu had a run-in with a Manawatu player in Palmerston North.
At the time, East Coast had some of the flashest post-match No 1 outfits. But they didn’t leave this Turbo impressed, telling Ngarimu East Coast weren’t welcome in Palmie, before spitting a mouthful of beer down his front.
The offending player, who we won’t embarrass by naming, then scarpered, leaving a bunch of East Coast pursuers behind him.
He wasn’t so elusive when the two teams came together on the field, with some ‘old school’ retribution from Lewis at the first line-out forcing him from the field.
“When you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us,” Lewis later told me.
It’s stories like which will be toasted up and down the East Coast during the union’s centenary season.
NPC and Heartland Championship silverware won over the past 100 years include two Third Division titles (1999 and 2000) and the stunning 2012 Meads Cup triumph; where they came back in the final against Wanganui from 27-3 down in the second half to win at Whakarua Park.
But the greatest achievement of all has been survival.
One of the union’s greatest triumphs is its continued existence.
It’s not just the opposition which the proud union battles to get competition points each year. The region’s rugby stocks have taken huge hits especially over the past 20 years due to a lack of
jobs and training opportunities which have seen some of its best young talent move elsewhere.
You can also add in the travel demands and the need for those employed in sectors such as farming and forestry to stay injury-free so they can put food on their family's table
At least three mergers with Poverty Bay have been mooted; the last in 2007 which included the completion of a feasibility study that found such a move might safeguard the future of rep rugby in both provinces.
But rugby is much more than a game on the East Coast. In a throwback to bygone eras of how the game used to be viewed nationally, it truly is a way of life.
Utes and trucks cram the sidelines of Whakarua Park with supporters on board.
Others even use real horse power to get to there; riding to the ground on the back of a horse. Until his death last year, John Manuel was always at Whakarua Park for rep games on his horse Hore; with the white horse’s tail, fetlocks and mane resplendent in sky blue paint.
‘Normal life’ stops when Saturday afternoon rolls around.
For 80 minutes during the club
season, relatives, friends and neighbours disregard their close links and do battle against each other in some of the most intense footy you could witness.
Clubs are hapu and iwi-based and any player brave enough to swap allegiance from their family-linked clubs should expect a physical battering when they come against their old team.
And the ref’s whistle for full time doesn’t signal the end of the ultracompetitive streak which runs through the rugby community.
The ‘third half’ of any clash on the coast is carried out in the kitchen.
Hosting is a true art - and a huge sense of pride - in the province.
Hunting and fishing parties are deployed leading up to hosting an aftermatch; including going bush to hunt wild pigs or fishing trips to empty out cray pots off the coastline, or to source paua, kina or fish.
On game day volunteers can be found in clubrooms from the crack of dawn putting down hangi, cooking mouthwatering boil-ups or preparing a variety of seafood; including the sweet nectar of crayfish.
For a city slicker used to seeing price tags of around $70 for a 700g crayfish, the sight of tables at aftermatch functions with dozens of crays prepared for devouring is priceless.
It was a point not lost on No 8 Te Teira Maxwell - who played in the Heartland Championship for the East Coast between 2017-19.
Auckland-based Maxwell would make a 16-hour return road to play for Ruatoria City during the club competition.
Despite the travel, his commitment to the East Coast was cemented after walking into an aftermatch function hosted by Uawa in 2017; who pride themselves on their seafood offerings.
“After the game they pulled out a hangi and there were also 50 crays and that was me . . . I was sold after that.”
The spreads were also an instant hit with homegrown 1980 and 1981 All Black midfielder Andy Jefferd on his return to the region in 1978.
“I played four seasons for Canterbury and the traditional aftermatch was a sausage and a bit of tomato sauce,” he told me after a game in Ruatoria in 2001.
“Then I went back home to the East Coast and tables at the aftermatch were full of crayfish and food from a hangi. The hospitality was second to none.”
Jefferd is one of just two players to make the All Blacks while playing for
THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT OF ALL HAS BEEN SURVIVAL. THE REGION’S RUGBY STOCKS HAVE TAKEN HUGE HITS WITH SOME OF THE BEST TALENT MOVING ELSEWHERE.’
the province. The other, the great George Nepia, made his All Black debut in 1924 as a Hawke’s Bay player, but continued to wear the black jersey after returning to his spiritual home later in his career.
One thing the East Coast - and their staunch supporters - will be hoping to celebrate at an aftermatch in the 2021 Heartland Championship is a win.
The side has not won a competition match since September 28, 2013, losing 50 matches straight in the Heartland
Championship.
Hopes that elusive win would come in 2020 under the new coaching of ex-All Black Hosea Gear were scuppered when the competition was cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In another sign of just how much pride locals have in the Sky Blue jersey - and another thing to love about East Coast rugby - is how players, and their fans, have stayed staunchly loyal through the winless seasons.
It’s always been that way on the East Coast.
Just ask veteran midfield back Marty Lloyd who played 72 games for the team between 2001-12. His debut season saw the team reach the Second Division final, while he was a key member of the 2012 Meads Cup-winning team. In between times, things weren’t so successful.
“When you go 40-odd games on the trot beaten, of course it's tough,” he said.
“And people did ask, ‘Why are you coming back when you are losing every year? But if you love it through the good times, you have to love it through the bad times. What would you be if you f****** off during the bad times?”