The hometown heroes honouring their mate's legacy
"He loved his footy. For these guys to make the effort and come down to be part of it, he’d be super stoked and would want to have a beer with them all.”
Not surprisingly a list of old-school “superstar” rugby players has attracted plenty of attention in the lead-up to Saturday’s Pack the Park in Invercargill.
They are names like Kieran Read, Kees Mueews, Mils Muliana, Jimmy Cowan, and Piri Weepu. Players that don’t just attract that superstar status in New Zealand but on a global stage as well.
But amongst those former All Black stars will be a scattering of hometown heroes at Rugby Park on Saturday. Many of them were close mates with the man who will be in most people’s thoughts as the rugby game plays out. That man being the late Blair Vining.
The game is a thank you to the wider public who has helped raise the funds needed to build a charity hospital in Southland.
That work was sparked by Vining and has been continued by his wife Melissa and others following Blair’s death in 2019.
One of those close mates who has been included in the Blair Vining XV is Ben McHugh.
McHugh will start at hooker and points out it’s probably the first time he can say he’s started ahead of arguably Southland rugby’s most celebrated player - Jason Rutledge.
“I think I’m a benefactor of pulling rank there…. I just wanted the No 2 jersey to hang on the wall. So, I’ll probably have a couple of minutes, then he can have the rest.”
McHugh first came across Vining back in his Form 2 days at school - or Year 8 in modern terminology.
Vining was playing rugby for Otautau, and McHugh for Winton.
“He was a big loud mouth first five then and we were thinking; ‘who’s this arrogant prick’,” McHugh said.
“And then once we got to Central Southland College he came to Midlands. When we started playing together, I thought; ‘he’s not a bad rooster this fella.”
The two went on to play over 250 games together at Midlands, with only a one-season break in 2000 when the Winton-based club didn’t field a senior team.
McHugh went to the Riverton Rugby Club and Vining to Woodlands before they quickly headed back to their true playing home - Midlands.
McHugh says Vining would have loved what was about to unfold at Rugby Park on Saturday.
“In his eyes, he’d be better than all of them though. That wouldn’t have really worried him,” he joked about the big name players taking part.
“He would be super stoked, he loved his footy. For these guys to make the effort and come down to be part of it, he’d be super stoked and would want to have a beer with them all.”
“The calibre of players lacing up, it’s a dream to be involved.”
While McHugh says Vining would be thrilled so many top-level former players have agreed to support the cause, he points out Vining would be just as delighted that many of his rugby mates were pulling on the boots again.
Included are former team mates, but just as special is the fact players that Vining coached during his days in charge of the Central Southland College first XV will also take part on Saturday.
The Pack the Park concept started in 2018 after Vining was diagnosed with cancer and given little time to live.
It was a bucket-list item for Vining to play one final game of rugby with his mates. They packed out Centennial Park in Winton for what was an emotional occasion.
In 2020 another Pack the Park fixture was held, this time at Rugby Park in Invercargill as a curtain-raiser to a Southland Stags NPC game.
It commemorated the first anniversary of Vining’s death. But the game also provided an avenue to help continue to push for better cancer care in New Zealand and ramp up the fundraising drive for the charity hospital in Southland.
Saturday is being dubbed the final Pack the Park. McHugh is one of the players who will complete the trifecta, playing in all three games.
He hasn’t played a game of rugby since that last Pack the Park four years ago and adds he probably hasn’t got another game in him after Saturday.
“Typical me, I thought I’d go for a run over Christmas, and second run in I tweaked my calf so I’ve been at the physio all week. But by the sounds of it on the group chat, I’m not the only one.”
McHugh says the game itself is unique, given its festival-type atmosphere but with a group of players who can’t help themselves, in terms of the level of intensity.
He recalls four years ago sitting with other players around the table for breakfast on game day and a few beers were pulled out.
It had him looking sideways thinking they’ve got a game to play soon.
But it also provided McHugh with some comfort thinking the game was going to be a laugh. Things quickly changed soon after the whistle was blown.
“We were about five minutes in and were having a laugh and then Boysy [Tim Boys] smoked someone and cut him in half.
“The next minute there was an insurgence, and the odd ruck was getting cleaned out and it was getting harder and harder.
“I remember running to a lineout and I was absolutely buggered, and there had only been about 10-15 minutes. Then Ali Williams actually said; ‘that’s about the level boys’.
“It was really good coming from him, it calmed things down a bit, I didn’t know how hard it was going to get.
“For a lot of them, they’ve been professional players, so they are always going to have that edge about them as soon as they run across that chalk.”
Saturday’s Pack the Park fixture is a free event for the community although people still need to sort a ticket to attend.
You can do so by heading to Pack the Park 2024 – The Final tickets | Rugby Park Stadium | Ticketek New Zealand
Kick-off on Saturday is 2.30pm.
Although Gates will open at 12noon with an opportunity to meet the players from 12.30 to 1.30pm.
A sold out Aftermatch function will also be held at ILT Stadium Southland on Saturday night.
THE TEAMS
AB Lime Blair Vining XV: Jamie Mackintosh, Ben McHugh, Kees Meeuws, Paddy Gower (captain), Jason Eaton, Corey Flynn, Hale T-Pole, Kieran Read, Jimmy Cowan, Greg Dyer, Daniel Pinn, Hayden Gentle, Pita Alatini, Brendan Laney, Mils Muliaina. Reserves; Jason Rutledge, Tere Cummings, Quinn Robins, Damian Pulley, Paul Miller, Te Hura Wilson, Piri Weepu, Phil Robinson. Doctor, Doc Finlayson, physio Craig McColl, ball runner Lilly Vining.
ITM Invitational XV: Peter Thomson, David Hall, John Afoa, Chris Menzies, Brendon Mitchell, Mose Tuiali’i, Scott Waldrom, Thomas Waldrom, Matt Watson (captain), James Wilson, Al Jones, Gregor Laughton, Mana Harrison, Steve McKay, Willie Walker. Reserves; Davin Heaps, Ben McMaster, Jackson Hunter, Chris Masoe, Scott Cowan. Hydration specialist Brad Anderson, physio Liv Hutton.