Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 107: John Sage

For over a decade, throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, the name J.K. Sage was one of the most ‘mentioned in despatches’ in the Rugby Weekly publication. There are numerous entries scattered throughout about Sage and almost all of them positive and complimentary.

It seems that Sage sometimes single-handedly carried his club team’s fortunes on his back, and he was their captain and talisman for many seasons.

That club was Taita – later to combine with Naenae Old Boys and form Avalon. Taita were a battling mid to lower table Senior division side who qualified for the top six Jubilee Cup on a handful of occasions and competed for the Hardham Cup in several more seasons whilst Sage was playing, then winning it in 1962 and again in 1965.

Sage was a hooker, and he was also a regular selection in Wellington representative squads. He represented Wellington between 1947 and 1959.

His 75* first-class matches for Wellington places him amongst the union’s most capped hookers, not far behind Kevin Horan (98 caps) and Brian Lloyd (79) and just ahead of Colin Currie (72). *That tally of matches does include several for Wellington Colts and XV teams that were deemed first-class at the time – Wellington ‘A’ caps listed as 63.

A couple of items of praise for Sage from the aforementioned Rugby Weekly in this period are:

“He seldom plays an indifferent game, and is always striving to take his pack with him.”

“He may not be the fastest striker of the ball in scrums for Wellington, but he is honest and most capable, and a also a grand all-round forward.”

“Whether things are bright or gloomy for Taita, their captain, John Sage, can always be found playing his usual game. Probably the best all-round hooker in Wellington, Sage is often referred to as a loose player because he often shines in this place. Sage, however, never shirks any of the hard stuff when it is necessary. On the whole he shows an intelligent distribution of his craft in the tight and loose.”

J.K Sage first emerged in Wellington representative colours in 1947, playing for Wellington Colts out of his home club Taita.

He was on the edge of full representative selection for the next four seasons as he honed his skills and helped build up his club’s strength as a regular Senior Championship side after the war.

Sage made his full Wellington debut in 1951, but wasn’t a regular in the team until 1954, taking over from Brian Lloyd who occupied the hooker’s role for several seasons previously.

Sage made 13 appearances for Wellington in 1954, 12 in 1955, 11 in 1956, 13 in 1957, 10 in 1958 and a handful more in his final representative season in 1959.

1956 was a noted year for Wellington rugby.

On 23 June of that year, 45,000 people packed Athletic Park to watch Wellington take on the touring Springboks. Sage lined up at hooker, with Ivan Vodanovich and Barry Hutchinson the props. Sage played a good game in a fired up pack as Wellington led 6-0 after 10 minutes before the Springboks clawed their way back and won 8-6.

On 15 September, Sage and Wellington beat Otago 6-3 for their first win at Carisbrook since 1932. On 22 September, Sage and Wellington travelled to Christchurch and lifted the Ranfurly Shield off the home team, playing a superb tactical game. Returning home, they defended it for the summer by beating Auckland 9-6, then ended the season in early October with a 22-3 win over Hawke’s Bay with Sage a try-scorer.

Sage and Wellington defended the Ranfurly Shield against Bush, Poverty Bay and Whanganui in 1957, before losing it to Otago on 24 August, Otago winning 19-11 and winning in Wellington for the first time since 1908. Sage was then part of Wellington teams that beat Southland 44-9 (nine tries), Taranaki 18-13 (Sage a try scorer) and Auckland 22-15.

As well as for Wellington, Sage played matches throughout the 1950s for the Centurions Club, played for the North Island in 1957 and 1958 in the annual North-South match and played in four New Zealand trial matches in 1957, 1958 and 1959.

All up, Sage played 93 first-class games, scoring 11 tries.

Plus some 15 years of service for the men in maroon in Taita’s front row in Wellington club rugby.

Sage played his final two seasons for Taita in club rugby in 1960 and 1961 – both battling seasons for his club. In 1960 they finished dead last but survived relegation and in 1961 they were just three spots off the bottom and playing in the Hardham Cup.

Having hung up his boots, Taita opened its brand new stand at Fraser Park at the start of the 1962 season and things looked on the up. With such players as speedy loose forwards R.H. Nixon and D.R. Macintyre and pro wrestler Ted Green in the forwards and NZ Māori fullback H.W Phillips Taita won the Hardham Cup.

Sage later became a Life Member of the Avalon club.

He died in Taupo aged 94 on 19 July 2023.

REFERENCES

Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.Anderson

Club Rugby (this website). Previous articles about Wellington v South Africa 1956 and Wellington v Canterbury Ranfurly Shield 1956.

Rugby Weekly – various publications through the 1950s, early 1960s.

Wellington’s Rugby History 1951-79. By Bob Fox, with assistance by Paul Elenio and Joseph Romanos (Evening Post) and Alex Veysey and Ian Gault (Dominion), with statistics compiled by Gordon Jackson (1951-68) and Alby Butterworth (1969-78). Tolan Printing Company, Wellington, 1979.