Isikeli Fukofuka Looking to Spoil Ponsonby Party

• By Adam Julian

When it comes to club rugby in New Zealand, Ponsonby in Auckland is as big as it gets. Ponsonby have won 35 Gallaher Shields since 1924 (it was presented in 1922) and 15 championships before that: four in pre-ARFU days, six under the club format 1883-91, three in the District days 1891-1909, and two club titles between 1910 and 1921.

Ponsonby have produced 48 All Blacks and 24 Black Ferns; as well as that 21 All Blacks and six Black Ferns have played for the club but weren’t picked while with them.

This weekend Ponsonby celebrates their 150th Anniversary. On Good Friday, Ponsonby tackles Petone, a Wellington powerhouse with a similarly storied history, in a special one-off fixture at Western Springs

For new Petone prop Isikeli Fukofuka the match holds extra significance. The loosehead of Tongan extraction played his junior rugby for Ponsonby.

“I’m speechless I get to play this match. I never thought anything like this would happen to me. I grew up playing with some of the Ponsonby boys and I understand what a big deal this weekend is,” Fukofuka said.

“We’re treating this game like it’s round one of the Swindale Shield. We’re going up there to try and spoil their party.”

And some party it is. Golf day on Thursday is oversubscribed. Friday’s fixture will be broadcast live on Sky Sport with Ken Laban and new Rugby Almanack editor Paul Neazor calling the action. On Saturday a junior carnival and more senior matches will occur before a dinner at Eden Park on Saturday night. Guest speakers include Rugby World Cup winners Sir Graham Henry, Anna Richards, and Monalisa Urquhart (30-0 in Tests, 56-0 for Auckland). Festivities will conclude on Sunday with an old boys match, music, a pig split, and beers. *

None of this fanfare is a surprise to Fukofuka whose passion for rugby was inspired at Ponsonby.

“My favourite memory with Ponsonby was going undefeated in Under 12s. Caleb Clarke was on my team. Man, we were pretty useful.

“I remember BG Williams always turned up to the prize giving and was around the club a lot. I didn’t appreciate at the time how important he was but thinking back he’s done so much for so many people, especially the Island Boys.”

Fukofuka attended Kelston Boys’ High School in West Auckland. In 2016 he played halfback for the First XV. He lost focus after college only rediscovering his passion for rugby in 2021.

He was lured to Sydney to play for the Hunter Wildfires in the Shute Shield with his brother Leon Fukofuka. Leon played 15 Tests for Tonga and scored a try in extra time when Auckland famously beat Canterbury 40-33 in the 2018 NPC Premiership final at Eden Park.

“I was 130 kg and unfit so they put me at prop. I’d never played prop in my life,” Fukofuka laughed.

“Honestly, that first season was horrific. The off-season was the light-switch moment. I worked hard, a lot of the time by myself, to get into shape.”

He worked closely with Samoan international prop Andrew Tuala who played Super Rugby for the Waratahs.

Former Petone loose forward Tupou Sopoaga played against Fukofuka for Southern Districts. Sopoaga was impressed with what he saw and planted the seed for Fukofuka to migrate to Petone.

“I wasn’t getting a look-in anywhere else in Australia, so I got talking to Tups and he suggested I go to Petone. I aim to push for the Wellington wider training group and hopefully go from there,” Fukofuka said.

“I came back to New Zealand in November and was living with my family in Auckland. I currently work for the council mowing lawns and doing maintenance.”

With Wellington Lions prop Iona Apineru and veteran Alapati Soke under injury clouds heading into this season, Fukofuka shapes as a key figure for Petone.

The Villagers won’t lack pace with 2023 Billy Wallace Best and Fairest award winner Stanley Solomon, livewire halfback Cam Ferreira, and diminutive winger Richard ‘Squid’ Evans all returning. Petone has lacked size and depth up front.  

“It’s great we’ve got a lot of speed with some experienced boys in the backs. Our job as a forward pack will be to lay a good foundation, dominate set-piece, so the boys out wide can have a crack,” Fukofuka observed.  

Flanker Kaleb Emile-Vaoga and first five Wiseguy Faiane are two Ponsonby players Fukofuka warned Petone needed to be wary of.

Ponsonby versus Petone kicks off at Western Springs at 3:05 pm and is live on Sky Sport. Club Rugby will have a report of the match.

*Veteran broadcaster and sports journalist Phil Gifford is MC. World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Ian Kirkpatrick will also speak as will Grammar Carlton’s Kevin Ramsey to “take the piss out of Ponies.” Ramsey played 49 games for Auckland between 1978 and 1981 and later formed Sporting Contacts Ltd, a marketing and management agency, which represented sports people and other celebrities with Andy Haden.

 Ponsonby v Petone History

Ponsonby and Petone first played in 1914, in a pre-season game at Petone that Ponsonby won 14-11. Outside back Joe O’Leary, the 1913 All Black captain for the home Test, was the star.

The next meeting was in 1955, as a fundraiser for the Ponsonby building fund. The match was drawn 22-22, with George Nepia, who was refereeing, kicking the final conversion. Petone’s All Black fullback Bob Scott returned to play in Auckland for the first time since 1953, and his presence certainly added to the crowd.

Petone beat Ponsonby for the first time in Auckland in 1972 by 20-12. Ian Upston who guided Petone to 172 wins in 192 games and 8 Jubilee Cup titles was coach. He led Wellington to 102 wins in 146 games winning NPC titles in 1978 and 1981 and the Ranfurly Shield in 1981.

In 1977 Ponsonby won the Champion of Champions final at Petone by 15-6. All Blacks locks Peter ‘Pole’ Whiting and Andy Haden dominated a dour spectacle. The Champion of Champions involved the top four clubs in New Zealand playing off for national supremacy.  

 Beegee Williams

Sir Bryan ‘Beegee’ Williams played 113 games (38 Tests, 66 Tries, 89 wins) for the All Blacks from 1970 to 1978 and coached Auckland, with Ponsonby stalwart Maurice Trapp, from 1987 to 1991 to an unprecedented 86 wins in 90 matches. In 1991 he was head coach of Samoa who made the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup against all odds.

The longest span Ponsonby have gone without winning the Gallaher Shield is from 1955 to 1975. In 1976 Williams was player/coach, but was in South Africa with the All Blacks for the Gallaher Shield round. Former All Blacks halfback Lin Colling took over as captain-coach and accepted the Shield. The Gallaher Shield final was the same day as the second Test, which New Zealand won 15-14. Beegee played in the Gallaher Shield wins of 1978, 1979 and 1981.

Williams was Director of Rugby at Ponsonby from 2001 to 2015. Between 2001 and 2011, Ponsonby won 189 out of 211 matches, 10 Gallaher Shields, and had a win streak of 41 matches consecutively between 2007 and 2009.

 Ponsonby Women

In 1986 Black Fern Nina Sio and six others formed the Ponsonby women’s team known as the Fillies. The Fillies proved to be a revelation winning 86 matches and eight championships on the trot. In 1987 they hosted a team from San Diego and then provided the bulk of players for the first Auckland representative team in 1987 and New Zealand XV that became the Black Ferns in 1989. Jack Kirifi was a coach. His son Wellington Lions captain and Hurricanes flanker Du’Plessis Kirifi. Ponsonby went 28 years without another Coleman Shield championship. In 2021 they broke the drought defeating Manurewa in extra time 35-20 in the final. Black Ferns legend Linda Itunu was the coach and 16-year-old Sylvia Brunt (now a Black Fern) scored three tries. Brunt told Allblacks.com in 2022.

“I was crying in the huddle at full time because I missed all the kicks. Linda Itunu looked at me and asked, ‘Why are you being silly?’ That was the best thing I could have heard from a Black Ferns legend like her.”

Ponsonby upset undefeated College Rifles to win the 2023 Coleman Shield final.

 Petone

Founded: 1883

All Blacks: 30 (Includes Mark Nicholls, Ken Gray, Don McIntosh, Tanga Umaga)

Black Ferns: 3 (Includes Hurricanes Poua Captain Jackie Patea-Fereti)  

Pre Jubilee Cup Championships: 12 (First: 1895, Last: 1924)

Swindale Shield Wins: (First: 1969, Last: 2022)

Jubilee Cup Wins: 26 (First: 1930, Last: 2005)

Rebecca Liua’ana Trophy Wins: 1994, 2023

Tia Passi Memorial Trophy Wins: 1993