The Blues Are in Pre-Season And That Can Only Mean One Thing... The Annual Hira Bhana Team Barbecue
Scotty Stevenson reports from an over-sized onion storage shed on the hills of Tuakau, near Pukekohe, south of Auckland, on a glorious summer’s evening.
The Blues, once the glamour New Zealand franchise of Super Rugby, have arrived for their annual pre-season barbecue with the Hira Bhana family and staff. They have taken two hours on a bus to get here. They are hungry. The good news is, a large number of farm animals have been slaughtered, butchered, marinated and grilled for their dining pleasure.
Hira Bhana and Co. are growers and purveyors of fine produce – potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbages and caulis (and lettuces all year round). The operation, begun in 1958 by Hira Bhana and now controlled and operated by his four sons, their wives, and their children, covers more than 1,500 acres of prime Franklin cropping land. Franklin is part of the Counties-Manukau province. Counties-Manukau rugby is aligned with the Chiefs. What the hell are the Blues doing here?
Woodsy Bhana says, “There are no Chiefs here, mate. Only Indians.”
And there is food. Lots of food. There are Indian spiced lamb chops and sweet and sticky pork chops. There are potato curries, and industrial-sized mixing bowls of freshly prepared salads. Later there will be vats of fruit salad and chocolate logs, and ice cream. Straight off the bus the Blues players head for the barbecues – home-made charcoal grills manned by a platoon of family members and workers. The entire barn smells of garam masala and meat sweat.
The coaches are here. Tana Umaga is a local hero thanks to his time with Counties-Manukau. Everyone here loves him. They also love his new assistant Steve Jackson, who helped him lead the Steelers to a Ranfurly Shield win and a national championship. Jackson is always smiling. James Parsons reckons he has brought some comedy to the club. “Is he funny?” I ask. “He thinks so,” he replies.
Dave Ellis is another new face. A short and wiry man who looks like he could kill you with a single headbutt, Ellis is the skills guru at the club. On his lower leg is an intricate ‘Connacht’ tattoo. He was with the Irish province when it won its first major trophy, the 2016 Pro12 Championship. The head coach was Pat Lam. You can be sure Ellis is hoping his time with the Blues is less torturous than Lam’s.
[rugbypass-ad-banner id=”1473723684″]
Sonny Bill Williams is here. He had arrived early. Someone asks him for a photo. Someone else hands him a baby and takes a photo of them both. Someone else hands him two babies and two people take a photo of the three of them. There are babies everywhere. I don’t know where they are all coming from. I do know that Sonny Bill Williams is good with kids. Later in the evening he wanders out into the yard with Akira Ioane and fashions a game of one-on-one street ball. Yes, Sonny Bill Williams is good with kids.
A local man walks up to a group of players. “It’s our year boys,” he says excitedly, obviously high on grilled meat. “I think the Warriors have that line trademarked,” replies one of the players. Steve Jackson isn’t the only one bringing comedy to the club.
Last year the Blues went 8-1-6 and finished last in the hotly-contested New Zealand conference. If it is to be their year, they will have to start beating the other New Zealand clubs. I ask assistant coach Al Rogers how the pre-season has been. “It’s been really good and the team is in good shape,” he says with trademark intensity. Then the Welsh pragmatism kicks in. “Then again mate, every team would say that at this time of year, wouldn’t they?”
They probably would.
Next weekend the Blues will play their first pre-season fixture against the Hurricanes at Alexandra Park. Rene Ranger, who has been recovering from a knee injury and is slowly working his way back to full contact, says the squad can’t wait to get into a match scenario. “We’ve been playing some intra-squad games and they’ve been pretty full-on,” he says. “But there’s nothing like genuine contact to get you in the zone.” Blues fans will be hoping Ranger can find his own zone.
For now though, he is happy in an onion barn in Tuakau, ripping into chops with the rest of the boys. Deep in the heart of Chiefs country the Blues reign supreme with their hosts. Vijay Bhana, the scion of this potato loving family and the brains behind the company’s anthropomorphic root vegetable mascot, wraps up the night with a thank you to the team and an invitation to all to take home a ten-kilogram bag of all-purpose spuds.
Come grab ya spuds don't miss out! pic.twitter.com/rIgyIXaMZp
— Bhana Family Farms (@BhanaFamilyFarm) February 19, 2016
“We just want you to know we purchased these new tractors with you in mind,” he says.
There were two of them parked next to the team bus, freshly polished and as clean as the day they left the factory.
And they were all blue.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments