Sideline Conversions 29 October (some rugby news and happenings on a Tuesday)

Jackson Garden-Bachop enters the field for his 100th match for Wellington on Saturday.

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Updated Tuesday afternoon.

In news just in, Rathkeale College have voted to leave the Central North Island First XV competition and join the Wellington CSW competition in 2025. They will have to qualify for the Premiership but if they qualify it could mean they will join Wairarapa College in the competition next year.

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A monumental effort by Hutt International Boys School (HIBS) to win the Wellington Condor Sevens title yesterday.

HIBS had not entered the tournament for 11 years but their competitiveness in the Premiership was reason alone to be somewhat weary. HIBS lost half of their games by less than a converted try. Rongotai College, 27-29 Tawa College, 36-38 Paraparaumu College, 13-16 Wellington College, 19-22 St Pats Town, 18-20.

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St Mary’s College’s U18s have only dropped a couple of matches in this tournament in the past several years, and they flew through this one without touching the sides. Their opponent in the final, Wellington East, played a big game to beat Sacred Heart 22-5 in their semi-final before succumbing to St Mary’s 47-0 in the final.

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Likewise, St Pat’s Silverstream’s U15s side were worthy winners of the Boys U15s tournament, in a competitive grade. They beat St Bernard’s 19-12, HVHS 57-5, Wellington College 27-0, Naenae College 38-7 (semi-final) and St Bernard’s again 26-24 (final).

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This year’s Condors saw 31 teams entered across the four grades and at one point four fields were in operation. Heavy rain hit the tournament mid morning and didn’t really ease until after lunch – there appeared to be few issues, with all teams well protected by their tents and marquees. Naenae #1 and the surrounding areas will be out of bounds for a few days though. The tournament was well run by College Sport Wellington’s David Fa’atafa and by the group of WRRA referees and officials who refereed multiple matches between them and did a great job on the day.

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The 2024 sevens season is scheduled to continue this coming weekend with two tournaments. The first is the opening leg (of two) of the Wellington club rugby American Ambassador’s series somewhere in Upper Hutt at Rugby League Park (men’s) and Te Whaea (Women’s) and the second is the Hurricanes region schools tournament at Feilding. We await details of both.

Going by the social media pages of most Wellington clubs, there is perhaps not the enthusiasm for sevens like there used to be. We have a date for the Central Region Sevens in Palmerston North, this being Saturday 23 November. This was revived last year after a Covid-hit hiatus of a few years, but Wellington didn’t enter. Will they do this year?

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A staggering NPC final on Saturday between Wellington and Bay of Plenty was won by the Lions 23-20 after a 45m penalty by Callum Harkin in the 93rd minute. A 15-7 lead with the stiff first-half wind was always going to be a slender advantage and so it proved with Wellington struggling to foil Bay of Plenty’s direct approach. In the last quarter, Wellington was behind 15-20, a big hole to be in against the wind but the Lions found away with a superb draw and pass by Peter Umaga-Jensen to winger Losi Fillipo who ran a sabre-like line to the paint.

Wellington’s set-piece became sturdier and the defence by both sides was herculean. There were 331 carries recorded in the game with 18 players making more than ten tackles each. Caleb Delany (25), Du’Plessis Kirifi (24), Hugo Plummer (22) and Brad Shields (22) were the top Wellington tacklers with openside flanker Joe Johnston topping the Steamers count with (21). Siale Lauaki (18), Benet Kumeroa (18) and Xavier Numia (17) made 53 tackles combined, an outrageous figure for props.

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Joe Johnston finished the NPC as the top tackler with 184, one ahead of teammate Nikora Broughton. Caleb Delaney surged to third with 174 tackles. Siale Lauaki (145) and Peter Lakai (144) were seventh and eighth respectively.

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Riley Higgins made 16 tackles in the final but struggled to find room on attack. Statistically, however, the Wellington second five-eighth was the NPC’s best-attacking player ranking fourth for carries (132), first for clean breaks (17), sixth for defenders beaten (43), fourth for metres gained (728) and first for offloads (32).

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Xavier Numia has played 72 of the last 79 possible games (50 wins) for Wellington since his debut in 2018.

The last time Numia played the whole 80 minutes was in 2022 when Wellington beat Hawke’s Bay 19-12 in Napier to capture the Ranfurly Shield.

Siale Lauaki had never played more than 80 minutes for Wellington.

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This was the Lions’ first NPC final win at home.

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Club Rugby understands Benet Kumeroa (Hutt Old Boys Marist) doesn’t even have a Super Rugby contract. Sign him up fast!

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Aidan Ross last scored a try for Bay of Plenty before Saturday in a 28-55 loss to Canterbury in 2021.

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Hika Elliot won’t feature for the New Zealand Heartland XV this week after suffering a concussion in extra time in the final. Elliot’s 40 minutes contribution was extraordinary with eight tackles, zest on the carry and most importantly repairing a faulty lineout. Elliot joined Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi (Waikato, 2021) as a player to win an NPC Premiership in their first and only appearance for a Union. Ironically Tahuriorangi started for Bay of Plenty in this final.

Elliot played four tests for the All Blacks but the most memorable rugby of his long professional career was with the Chiefs In 2012 and 2013. Elliot played 32 of a possible 36 matches in the Chiefs double triumph in that era and even helped the team compose a new haka. Sir Wayne Smith provided more insight:

“There’s a great saying that goes, ‘It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a community to create a rugby team.’ Led by Dave Rennie we were a close community who genuinely represented the region. We acknowledged the unique Māori character within the group and emulated the journey Tainui took in their Waikato settlement. We discovered Waikato Stadium is in the vicinity of an ancient pa site. We changed the names of some defence and lineout calls to Māori because we felt they resonated more with the character of the group. Hika helped compose a new haka that aligned better with our new values.

“Every Friday players would visit the community with police and talk about bullying, family violence, really powerful stuff to genuinely connect with the community rather than just pictures and autographs. Hika with his raw honesty was phenomenal in this regard. After hearing some of his stories, how could you not play for him?”

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Hawkes Bay’s Bert Wood currently has the record for the oldest player in New Zealand first class rugby after playing for the Magpies in 1911 at the ripe age of 48 years and 203 days old. Buller’s Phil “Dozer” Beveridge was 47 when he played his 176th and final game in 2021. All Black George Nepia played a first class game aged 45.

Hika Elliot was 38 years and 278 days old on Saturday.

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All Blacks winger Rico Gear (19 Tests, 11 tries, 16 wins) played for eight New Zealand provinces: Auckland, Bay of Plenty. North Harbour, Nelson Bays, Tasman, Canterbury, Poverty Bay and Ngāti Porou East Coast. Legendary All Blacks captain Sir Wilson Whineray (77 games, 7 tries, 63 wins) played for Wairarapa, Mid Canterbury, Manawatū, Canterbury, Waikato and Auckland. Horace Grant played for Poverty Bay, North Harbour, Otago, Hawke’s Bay, Central Vikings and Ngāti Porou East Coast. Horace played his last game of rugby in the 2016 East Coast Senior Grand Final for his beloved club, Hikurangi at the tender age of 47. He had an outstanding game and finished a glittering career on a winning note.

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Most tries in the NPC at Sky Stadium.

• 51 – Julian Savea
• 40 – Ma’a Nonu
• 34 – Wes Goosen
• 33 – Hosea Gear
• 33 – TJ Perenara

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Two Tries in an NPC Final

• 1992: Waikato: 40 v Otago: 5: Simon Crabb (2)
• 1996: Auckland: 46 v Counties Manukau: 15: Eroni Clarke (2), Brian Lima (2)
• 1997: Canterbury: 44 v Counties Manukau: 15: Afato So’oalo (2)
• 1998: Otago: 49 v Waikato: 20: Brendan Laney (2)
• 2000: Wellington 34 v Canterbury 29: Jonah Lomu (2)
• 2002: Auckland: 40 v Waikato: 28: Doug Howlett (2)
• 2003: Auckland: 41 v Wellington: 29: Orene Ai’i (2), Christian Cullen (2)
• 2004: Canterbury: 40 v Wellington: 27: Justin Marshall (2)
• 2006: Waikato: 37 v Wellington: 31: Byron Kelleher (2), Ma’a Nonu (2)
• 2009: Canterbury: 28 v Wellington: 20: Colin Slade (2)
• 2012: Canterbury: 31 v Auckland: 18: Tom Taylor (2)
• 2016: Canterbury: 43 v Tasman: 27: Richie Mo’unga (2)
• 2017: Canterbury: 35 v Tasman: 13: Richie Mo’unga (2)
• 2019: Tasman: 31 v Wellington: 14: Will Jordan (2)
• 2023: Wellington: 23 v Bay of Plenty: 20: Julian Savea (2)

Note: Cory Jane scored twice in Wellington’s 25-26 loss in the 2015 championship final to Hawke’s Bay.  Tolu Fahamokioa scored twice in the 59-45 win over Bay of Plenty in extra-time of the 2017 Championship final.

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All Blacks debuts for Peter Lakai (11 tackles in 30 minutes) and Ruben Love (2 tries) were jobs well done in the 64-19 win over Japan. After a breakneck opening quarter, Japan forgot how to tackle, the All Blacks using their 959kg of forward bulk (the most ever) to bully the hosts. The second half was a muddled display with another poor last 20 minutes. Wallace Sititi shined again. What happens when you select young, hungry, in-form players is funny.

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Following the stunning upset of South Africa at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and the quarter-final appearance at home in 2019 one might have expected more from Japan possibly the biggest underachiever in world rugby. For all the enthusiasm and money, Japan hasn’t beaten a team currently ranked inside the World Top 10 (Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, France, England, Argentina, Scotland, Italy, Fiji, Australia) since 2019. That’s 17 games ago. The Sunwolves managed nine wins in 68 games in Super Rugby.

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According to this article HERE Hawke’s Bay flanker Patrick Tuifua, who played for France U20 last year, has turned down a French Top 14 stint because he wants to push for a Super Rugby gig in New Zealand.

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Which Wellington Lions player woke up on Sunday morning with the NPC trophy in his bedroom?

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New Zealand Rugby Commercial Limited (NZRC) announced last week that its Chief Executive Officer, Craig Fenton, will leave the company in January 2025.

Craig’s involvement began during Rugby World Cup 2023, and he formally joined NZRC in January 2024 from his previous role leading strategy and operations for Google’s UK and Ireland business.

An interesting departure. He was on the popular ‘Between two Beers’ podcast not that long ago outlining his vision and explaining what he is doing.

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According to a NZR media release today, community rugby saw a six percent increase in registrations across the board, with 155,568 players taking the field this season.

This included a 15% increase in women and girls’ numbers with 33,757 participants, a record number of players in the game.

Heartland Rugby Unions are celebrating a seven percent increase in players, their 28,406 registered players also the most in their combined history.

The focus area of teenage boys’ participation has also seen growth, a steady rise since Covid now sees 29,153 participants lacing up their boots across the country.

The numbers according to the NZR media release are:
–    155,568 players, up 6% on 2023
–    10,154 coaches, up 10% on 2023
–    1,522 referees 3% down on 2023
–    33,757 registered women and girls players, an increase of 4,300 (15%)
–    4,200 more junior players in 2024
–    2,400 more teenage players in 2024
–    1,500 more senior players in 2024

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This column, which is a collaborative effort, is coming to an end for 2024. There is one, perhaps two, of these to come before the gates close for a short break and return early next year. To contribute or assist in any way please get in touch!