The somewhat bizarre, but wonderful, day at Rugby Park
It was the day in January when Rugby Park came alive.
It was like entering a portal into a twilight zone when walking into Rugby Park on Saturday afternoon.
Over 10,000 people showed up for a rugby game in Invercargill in January. It’s a time of the year when the footy boots are traditionally covered in spiderwebs somewhere at the back of the garage.
But that wasn’t even the half of it.
Those 10,000 or so people turned up to watch a game where one team was captained by prominent journalist Paddy Gower and featured names like Muliaina, Cowan, Alatini, Mackintosh, Mueews, Weepu, Laney, and Eaton.
The other team was captained by television fishing show host Matt Watson and had former All Black tight-head prop John Afoa taking kick-offs and Stags coach James Wilson running the cutter at first five-eighth.
The packed terrace would have warmed the hearts of everyone attached to putting on the Pack the Park event. Or every Southlander for that matter.
But that same sight might also have prompted some head-scratching amongst those involved with marketing professional sport at the highest level.
Saturday’s crowd toppled that which showed up for Invercargill’s most recent Super Rugby game between the Highlanders and Western Force.
Saturday was free for all to attend, was that the key ingredient?
The rugby game in Invercargill came seven days after the Black Clash cricket game - played between retired cricket and rugby players - recorded the largest TV audience for a sporting broadcast on a single channel since the start of 2023.
Clearly the New Zealand public has an appetite to watch big names of yesteryear play in festival-type fixtures.
Saturday was touted as the final Pack the Park - but it feels like Invercargill has stumbled onto a real winner with this event for many differing reasons.
Saturday’s Pack the Park should probably also spark a conversion.
Nick Jeffrey and Scott Eade did a fine job of commentating the fixture, and in a unique twist to other games played at Rugby Park, that commentary was broadcast for the crowd in attendance to hear.
It helped the say, less informed, grapple with who was who on the field and what was unfolding.
The concept might simply be suited to the festival-type occasion, but in an era when our traditional rugby competitions are under pressure, in terms of crowd attendance, nothing should be completely discarded without at least a thought.
For the record, fittingly, it was the AB Lime Blair Vining XV who was victorious on Saturday beating the ITM Invitational XV 33-31.
The win came courtesy of a late Jimmy Cowan intercept try. The try levelled the scores before Cowan then landed what turned out to be the match-winning conversion.
It capped off a big second half from the Blair Vining XV after it trailed 24-7 at halftime on the back of some big performances from the likes Afoa, Thomas Waldrom, and David Hall in the ITM Invitational XV.
For the Blair Vining XV Jason Rutledge continued to defy what you would think is possible at 46 years old with another trademark performance at Rugby Park.
He was wearing the No 7 jersey in the absence of Hale T-Pole, while former All Black captain Keiran Read was another who was unable to line up after picking up an injury playing in the Black Cash cricket event.
Arguably the best performance of the day came from referee Keith Brown who at times looked like he forgot he had a whistle in hand as the game turned into a free-running spectacle where any sort of structure was thrown out the window.
It provided a real opportunity for some heroes of the past to again show the thousands in attendance glimpses of their skill.
We’ve taken a while to get to the real point of Saturday’s Pack the Park. That being the thank you to the public.
The game was played on Saturday as a pat on the back to the wider public who has helped raise the required funds to get a charity hospital built in Southland.
It was sparked by cancer advocate Blair Vining and that work has been continued by his wife Melissa following Blair’s death in 2019.
Gower was particularly glowing in his praise of the Vinings and Southland as a whole in his aftermatch assessment. Even throwing in some colourful language to hammer home the point.
“I didn’t want to be the captain that lost and then come out with some bullshit that I didn’t mind.
“We won in front of Southland and there will never be another [Pack the Park] game and I go out completely undefeated as a skipper. You might have noticed I didn’t miss any kicks,” Gower said.
“But it’s not about me, look at the players out here and the people that are here. There’s a smile on everyone’s faces up in the stands.
“I swear to God, the way that Blair Vining and Missy Vining have turned around cancer care in this country and built a f*#king hospital for this province is a miracle. You are looking at a Southland miracle and it’s been an absolute privilege to be part of it.”
ITM Invitational XV captain Matt Watson was full of praise for all players that took part but had a special mention for his team.
“Big shout out to my team, I don’t think we were supposed to get close. I think everyone left it out there.
“There were a few fellas, myself included, whose body wouldn’t work at the end. I’m really pleased everyone is upright, everyone is healthy, and we are leaving the field in good spirits.
“Congrats to Paddy and his team.”
The occasion didn’t end at the final whistle at Rugby Park on Saturday. A sold-out aftermatch function was held at ILT Stadium Southland where plenty of entertaining stories were told and embellished.
Congratulations to all involved in making Saturday a special day for Southland for many different reasons.
It was the day in January when Rugby Park came alive.