Pride of the nation: How the provincial game exemplifies the best of New Zealand rugby
A mate sent me a series of excited texts late on Saturday afternoon.
It was my week to do the bets for our syndicate and I’d taken Taranaki by 1-12 in their Ranfurly Shield clash with Canterbury. Just so it doesn’t look like I’m bragging, I took a punt on five games last weekend but Taranaki was the only team to get up.
Anyway, the result of the Shield game formed only part of my friend’s excitement.
The small town we live in is part of a Heartland union. We don’t produce a lot of talent, but take a lot of pride in the lads that do make their way onto a bigger stage.
Turns out the parents of Canterbury outside back Andrew Knewstubb live on the same street as my friend, while Taranaki reserve halfback Warwick Lahmert was on old club teammate.
I take my car to the garage Lahmert’s brother works at and I still get nervous every time Dane Coles’ mum serves me at the pharmacy.
Nothing brings New Zealanders together en masse quite like the All Blacks.
The Olympics and Commonwealth Games can be unifying forces too, along with the America’s Cup, but no sports team has quite the same hold over us as the famous men in black.
Super Rugby Aotearoa was surprisingly popular this year. Circumstances played a part in that, given how starved we were of live sport, but the chance to watch our best and brightest talents go head-to-head was one that huge numbers of people took up.
The All Blacks have been and (largely) gone from the Mitre 10 Cup, but that doesn’t diminish the connection between New Zealanders and that competition.
Whether that’s through someone’s mum – who works in your local pharmacy – or a player that you went to school with or a coach who’s a mate of your dad’s, the Mitre 10 Cup is the way in which we best relate to professional rugby players.
Another mate of mine retweeted a photo of the Francis Douglas Memorial College contingent – including Beauden, Scott and Jordie Barrett – who’d been part of Saturday’s 23-22 win over Canterbury. He lives in Sydney these days but, wherever he is in the world, the pride at being a Francis Douglas old boy remains.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFahKqvgNxa/
These are the ties that bind us to provincial rugby no matter who we are.
It’s nice that Beauden and Jordie Barrett followed father Kevin in becoming Hurricanes, but that doesn’t compare to winning the Ranfurly Shield in Taranaki colours.
Kevin Barrett was a Hurricane and that’s no mean feat, but he’s a Taranaki legend made famous – in large part – by being a member of the 1996 side that snatched the Shield off Auckland.
Beauden Barrett referenced that match on Saturday night and how he’d dreamed of playing for Taranaki and winning the Ranfurly Shield himself one day.
Just like hooker Bradley Slater who talked of having the same childhood dream, when the Taranaki team got back to New Plymouth on Sunday. Son of Taranaki great Andy Slater, Bradley had grown up on those same tales of Eden Park ‘96.
The Mitre 10 Cup has lost some stature in recent years, but it still retains its context.
Ideally, a player like Beauden Barrett wouldn’t go five years between provincial appearances, but what matters is that it really meant something when he returned. It remains to be seen if he’ll get to defend the Shield, or even play for Taranaki again, but it doesn’t diminish his status as a Taranaki man or that of his family.
Scott Barrett has never played for Taranaki, while Jordie has only this season’s two appearances under his belt, but they’re still immediately synonymous with the union, still favourite sons in every sense, still connected to that province and the proud playing records of men such as their father.
#AllBlacks star Beauden Barrett was missing from training today in Whakatane, less than three weeks out from the first #BledisloeCup test.https://t.co/VIfzSCaMgS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 22, 2020
All through Taranaki right now you know there are people chuffed to have known or played against or even just met someone in the Barrett family. Same as there will be those who know Bradley and Andy Slater, Teihorangi Walden or Ricky Riccitelli and will be walking taller or telling tales or buying tickets to see the team defend the Shield against Otago on Sunday.
Mitre 10 Cup rugby doesn’t make the big bucks or attract the best audiences. It might not feature our finest players that often, but it always brings people and communities together and makes them feel as if they have some ownership of their local team.
Or, if you’re in a smaller union like me, a sense of pride that players are out there trying to put your town on the map.
There are those who would do away with this kind of grassroots rugby, who’d stage test and franchise footy only and forgo the burden of funding the community game.
Provincial rugby isn’t cheap and the returns aren’t great, but it remains our best connection between the past and the present and the professional and the promising.
It isn’t perfect. Not as it stands, anyway, with the inclusion of All Blacks a novelty rather than an expectation.
But it remains hugely relevant to a great many New Zealanders and Taranaki’s recent triumph has been a timely reminder of that.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
28 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
28 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
28 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
28 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
28 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments