Sav's Sidelines: Is this the closest NPC ever?
Sav's Sidelines - the weekly column that looks at all things Southland rugby, from the grassroots to the professional game.
In this week’s Sav’s Sidelines column, there’s plenty of stories, stats, and memories attached to Josh Bekhuis joining Jason Rutledge as Southland’s most-capped rugby player. I also take a moment to reflect on the chain of events that has led Kendrick Lynn to be a sought after coach on the international stage. Plus, plenty more.
The closest NPC competition ever?…
I get a bit of tunnel vision during each NPC season. I get that focused on what the Southland Stags are up to I sometimes am blinkered by how the competition, as a whole, is playing out.
But after eighth-placed Counties dispatched top-of-the table Wellington 51-12 on Friday night, I took a moment.
For years I’ve lamented the often lop-sided nature of the NPC which at times could be put down to the lop-sided level of spending between the top and bottom teams.
However, I think, at this point in time, the competition is probably as close as it has ever been - and that is worth celebrating.
It’s dished some tense and tight finishes. In September alone, nine NPC games have been decided after the 78th minute.
The likes of Auckland, Waikato, and Canterbury - to be blunt - are probably as weak as they have ever been at NPC level, and from a competition point of view that has been welcomed.
Any team could genuinely beat any other team this year, a Friday night highlighted that.
Just one Super Rugby base team - Wellington - sits in the top five on the 2024 NPC ladder with the other four teams from the regions. That also makes for an intriguing competition.
If I revert to looking at the competition through a maroon lens it does feel like an opportunity missed for the Stags to make a bit of a statement in 2024, given the level of this year’s NPC and the closeness of the competition.
A playoff spot was there for the taking.
Journey from Southland B to international coach…
It’s fair to say Southland didn’t have a great relationship with Otago 15 or so years ago.
Stags coaches David Henderson and Simon Culhane would make some “stealth visits” to watch a bit of club rugby in Dunedin.
Henderson says by two-thirds through the season our neighbours had worked out what Henderson and Culhane were up to.
They were there to watch the likes of Jason Kawau, Tim Boys, and Kendrick Lynn with the prospect of signing them for the Stags.
Kendrick Lynn is the reason I’m bringing this story up, and I’ll get to the why in a bit.
Culhane spotted Lynn playing club rugby in Dunedin. He had played a bit of rep rugby for Otago B before that but had not cracked the Otago NPC ranks.
He signed with the Stags and in 2006 played at fullback in all of the Stags’ NPC fixtures.
However, the next year Lynn found himself back to B rugby playing the 2007 season for Southland B at fullback.
His rugby journey had hit a bit of a crossroads. That was until 2008 when Culhane had another idea which sparked a chain of events that has led to Lynn now being one of the more sought-after coaches on the international stage.
Culhane switched Lynn from fullback to centre in what was a bit of a masterstroke as we reflect 16 years on.
A touch over 12 months on from playing for Southland B in 2007 Lynn had landed himself a Highlanders Super Rugby contract on the back of his performances at centre.
Lynn ended up playing 36 games for the Highlanders before French club Lyon signed him in 2013.
He played through to 2016 before switching straight into a coaching capacity with Lyon.
The 41-year-old this year linked with the Highlanders as their attack coach but has since been head-hunted by Argentina to join them as their attack coach.
Lynn joined Argentina in July and has since helped the South Americans to famous victories over the All Blacks and South Africa.
Unfortunately for Lynn and Argentina, they felt the wrath of South Africa this week losing 48-7.
This might be a bit deep for a column on rugby, but sometimes life is a strange beast where small decisions can lead to big outcomes. Lynn’s journey is probably testament to that.
The stats attached to the Rutledge, Bekhuis feat…
I’ve written this a few times now, but I can not see another Southland player getting close to the 143 games that Jason Rutledge, and now Josh Bekhuis, have played in the maroon jersey.
One, it is simply a remarkable feat of longevity, but most notably Southland now only plays about ten first-class games each year.
It would take a player over 14 years, without missing a single Stags game, to get to Rutledge and Bekhuis’ number.
Rutledge took 20 years and 67 days to go from game 1 to 143 for Southland, missing 94 games in between.
The last of Rutledge’s games was in 2020 at 42-years-old.
Bekhuis took 18 years and 84 days to go from 1 to 143, missing 67 games in between.
Interestingly Bekhuis and Rutledge played 73 games together from 2006 to 2014.
Remembering a statement moment from a teenage Bekhuis…
Josh Bekhuis made a history-making 143rd appearance for Southland on Sunday. He joined his former teammate Jason Rutledge as Southland rugby’s all-time most capped player.
It’s a good time to revisit the moment close to 20 years ago when a then-teenage Josh Bekhuis convinced his first Stags coach he was ready to mix it in the senior ranks, despite being so young.
It was 2005 and David Henderson and Simon Culhane had taken over as co-coaches of the Southland Stags.
Henderson had heard a bit about a young lock by the name of Josh Bekhuis. He had just left Southland Boys’ High School.
Henderson had played a lot of rugby against Bekhuis’ father Richard, as well as a bit with him for Southland.
The new Stags co-coach decided to take a look at Bekhuis in his first senior club game playing for Star against Woodlands.
Bekhuis was marking Roger Newell at the front of the lineout.
Newell was in his 30s, and the year before had played the last of his 44 games for the Southland Stags. Bekhuis was a teenager.
Henderson takes up the story.
“At the first line-out, Roger grabs his jersey and then - you don't get away with it these days - but [Josh Bekhuis] turned around and he dropped Roger from the first line-out.
“So to me, I just ticked the wee boxes. He's hard-arse and he hits rucks, all those sorts of things,” Henderson told The Roar Podcast earlier this year.
“So, there, you've got yourself a player. Someone straight out of school, and Roger's been around for a long time, and Woodlands - the hard arses - he goes in there and boom down this guy goes in the first.”
Bekhuis ended up being part of Henderson’s entire Stags coaching rein which went through to 2013.
The July 8, 2006 Stags debut…
On Sunday we celebrated game No 143 of Josh Bekhuis’ days in the Stags jersey as he joined Jason Rutledge as Southland’s most-capped rugby player.
Let’s take a moment to look back at game No 1 for Bekhuis. It was a preseason outing against North Otago on July 8, 2006 which had first-class status.
The Stags scored nine tries in a 53-10 win in a fixture played at Rugby Park in Invercargill.
Rutledge started at hooker that day, with a young Bekhuis at lock.
The full Stags team for Bekhuis’ 2006 Southland debut: Kendrick Lynn, Watisoni Lotawa, Alesana Muliaina, Willie Rickards, Mana Harrison, Blair Stewart, Adam Clarke, Mark McHugh, Jeff Wright, Kane Thompson, Rees Logan, Josh Bekhuis, Ben Coutts, Jason Rutledge, Jayden Murch. Reserves; David Hall, Jason Rickard, Pieter Sterrenburg, Iona Sipa, Sam Muir, Phil Dawson, Pale Tuilagi.
Antlers up…
Southland might not have got a game out of new signing Sevu Reece in 2024 but we got an “antlers up” on Saturday night to make sure we know where his provincial loyalty lies these days.
Reece scored the All Blacks’ first try in the 33-13 victory over Australia on Saturday night in Wellington and eagled-eyed Stags fans spotted Reece briefly hoisting up the antlers when celebrating.
Reece was an intriguing off-season signing for the Stags, although Rugby Southland director of rugby Matt Saunders conceded when they signed him, they never expected he would play in maroon this year because of his All Blacks commitments.
It was a more a marketing signing than a player signing.
With New Zealand Rugby covering the costs of All Blacks who are unavailable for their province, Reece’s signing hasn’t cost Rugby Southland.
But he did spend time with the Stags running the water in a preseason against Tasman and now has thrust the antlers up on the international stage.
The marketing department will take that.
Blast from the Past…
The Southland Stags will finish their 2024 campaign against North Harbour at Rugby Park in Invercargill on Saturday. It’s a fitting time to turn the clock back and recall the 2020 Stags North Harbour clash at Rugby Park.