Sav's Sidelines: The day Waikaka ruled Southland rugby
Sav's Sidelines - the weekly column that looks at Southland sport, from the grassroots to the professional ranks.
This week’s Sav’s Sidelines column delves back into the memory banks and recalls the day the Waikaka community ruled Southland rugby. We also cover off a Southland Boys’ High School first XV out in Auckland on Saturday.
The day Waikaka ruled Southland rugby…
Congratulations to the Waikaka Rugby Club for its 125th milestone and the celebrations that have gone with that during the weekend.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Waikaka Rugby Club, partly because it provided the best bus trip during my less-than-lustrous club rugby playing days.
But more so, I have had a soft spot for Waikaka because the town with basically a rugby club and pub, and not a heap else, has achieved things that they probably shouldn’t have given the size of the town.
That was evident in 1998 when Waikaka etched its name on the prized Galbraith Shield for the first and only time.
It was more than about rugby that day, it was about community as Waikaka travelled to Rugby Park to take on Star in the 1998 final.
Seven busloads made the journey from the small rural eastern Southland town to Invercargill to watch their team dubbed the “green machine” create history when they toppled Star in that decider.
Waikaka coach John Chittock probably summed it up best in The Southland Times following the victory.
“While the boys really turned it on, so did our supporters. It doesn't matter if it's bowls, tiddlywinks, golf, or rugby, the Waikaka community gets behind you and it showed today,” he said.
The champion Waikaka team included a then 20-year-old Paul Miller, who three years later, in 2001, would play for the All Blacks.
Others who wrote their names into Waikaka folklore that day included the likes of Miller’s older brother Wayne, Hayden Byars, and Josh Heke. All played for Southland.
Byars and Heke - two years earlier from their Galbraith Shield heroics - had provided another special highlight in Waikaka Rugby Club’s 125-year history.
The then 20-year-old Waikaka pair both made their provincial debuts together in Southland’s 31-21 loss to Scotland at Rugby Park in Invercargill in 1996.
Byars started on the right wing and scored one of Southland’s two tries against Scotland, while Heke started at centre.
Byars to this day remains heavily involved in Southland rugby, with him now coaching the Southland Hinds team.
The rugby world has changed somewhat since the Waikaka Rugby Club didn’t just line up in Southland’s premier club rugby competition but was able to win the Galbraith Shield.
Waikaka has since combined with Riversdale to put a senior team together to play in Southland’s Division One competition under the Vikings banner.
But the key thing is, there is still a team for the Waikaka community to get behind.
For the record, Wyndham pipped Waikaka/Riversdale 28-27 on Saturday in amongst the 125th celebrations.
A jubilee function was held that night, which included All Black first five-eighth Simon Culhane as the guest speaker.
SBHS come up short in Auckland…
The Southland Boys’ High School first XV has been handed a 41-14 loss in their game against King’s College in Auckland on Saturday.
The two schools have organised a preseason showdown in recent years with Southland Boys’ getting the honours last year, 24-22 in a game played in Invercargill.
Twelve months on in a return game in Auckland, it was King’s College who pulled away for a decent-sized victory. That was after a tight early tussle with the score at 15-14 early in the second half.
Southland Boys’ were missing one of their key players with first five-eighth Jimmy Taylor sidelined through injury.
The Invercargill school will now take on Christchurch Boys’ High School in Christchurch next Saturday in another preseason hitout.
That is before they kick-off the Southland-Otago secondary schools competition against John McGlashan College in Dunedin on Wednesday, May 7.
Back in the old days the country rugby was great to part of because of the solid social scene around the communities that we represented. Every game ws followed with celebrations at either the clubrooms of local pubs and the Waikaka publican. Wattie Corcoran was one of the best publicans in Southland. Heriot was an example of the other type. Can't remember the guy's name but was he ever grumpy when the boys started singing.
Those smaller areas had solid numbers of young guys who worked in the areas and most did physical work so were pretty fit. So much of that work is now done with machines and while its progress it means a lot less people working.