I'm a Hawkeye Guy

Norman McKenzie’s ‘Magpies’ 

 

 

 

  Under Norm McKenzie, Hawke's Bay, after lifting the coveted trophy from Wellington in 1922, were instrumental in reviving waning public interest in the Ranfurly Shield, creating a term that would become ‘world famous’ in New Zealand, ‘shield fever’.

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“It took the great McKenzie with his remarkable Hawkes Bay side of 1922 – 26 to make it the most sought after trophy in the whole rugby                                   world.”                                  

J K Moloney, historian

 

"He made the shield what it is. Those Hawkes Bay teams were close to being professionals and were in huge conflict with the New Zealand                                                                     union. Guys were clearly getting slipped a few bob under the counter."                                                                        Lindsay Knight, (Shield Fever)

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Generally speaking, little was known about the Hawkes Bay team, which McKenzie had assembled after scouring the province for men with individual brilliance who could also become effective team players. No doubt, the biggest match in his first five years in charge came when the 1921 Springboks played and defeated the combined Hawkes Bay – Poverty Bay side by 14-8 in Napier.

 

The 1922 Hawkes Bay side were led by Alexander Kirkpatrick, born in Ulster, Northern Ireland in 1898. A hooker in the old 2-3-3 scrum, Kirkpatrick had been in the Bay side since 1918 (aged 19) and although he had attended Woodville District High School, a move to urbanity saw him associated with the Hastings club.

 

At 5ft 9in and a comparative lightweight at 12st 6lb, Kirkpatrick was a lively, intelligent forward. He was in the combined side, (as were two of the Brownlie boys, Grenside, Gemmell, McNab, Mill and the champion heavyweight boxer Tom Heeney), that had met the Springboks.

 

Although he later forfeited the captaincy to Maurice Brownlie, he always had an important leadership role and was a major factor in the team’s overall success. He would appear in all shield matches for the Bay during their first shield reign.

 

Another to have represented the Bay since 1918 was Bertram Albert Grenside. A tough farmer from near Waipukurau, Grenside played in most matches during the shield era and included in his 144 points were 30 tries. Big for a wing in his generation, Grenside was 6ft tall and weighed around 13st 5lb. Though not exceptionally fast, he used his size and strength to good effect whenever he had a sniff of the try line.

 

Another member of the Hastings club, after attending Mohaka School, Grenside (born in Hastings in 1889) eventually played 87 matches for Hawkes Bay, retiring in 1931. He holds to this day the all time try scoring record for the Magpies with 71.

 

Bert’s older brother, Nuku, also played for Hawkes Bay and his father, Ernold, was a prominent figure in the regions sporting circles. Grenside senior, born in Waipawa, was a very fine athlete himself in his younger years (particularly as an all rounder in cricket) and for many years raced horses, being a member of both the Hawkes Bay and Waipukurau Jockey Clubs.

Ernold Grenside had been proprietor of many Hotels in the district and at the time of his death, in 1938, he was the licensee of the Stortford Lodge Hotel in Hastings.

 

One of the most famous names in New Zealand sport, of any code, is most certainly ‘Brownlie’. There were three brothers and they were all loose forwards, all played for the Hastings club and were all All Blacks. The Hawkes Bay side that held the shield for five winter’s, owes a great deal of success to brothers Maurice and Cyril, mainstays and powerhouses of the formidable pack that conquered all during the reign.

 

Stories of the amazing strength of the brothers abound. Years of constant labour in the rigorous terrain of the family farm in Puketitiri, near Napier, had them physically honed, totally ideal for their role as  tough forwards. Carrying fence posts on their shoulders and similar feats of almost superhuman strength were commonplace in their daily farm life.

 

The youngest, Jack Laurence (born in Makirikiri in 1899) played for Hawkes Bay and New Zealand in 1921. He played only seven first class matches, six for the Bay and one for his country, before being forced into premature retirement by a crippling knee injury. But for his untimely injury, there seems every reason to believe he would have reached the same lofty heights as his brothers, both in the champion Bay provincial side and with the All Blacks.

 

When Laurie was chosen for the All Blacks, it is understood that the father of the boys helped stir the ambitions of Maurice and Cyril by wondering ‘what was wrong with them’, when their baby brother could so easily gain national honours. Whatever was said worked, as middle brother Maurice John (born 1897 in Wanganui) became an All Black the following season.

 

Like Laurie, Maurice had first played for Hawkes Bay in 1921 and was an Old Boy of St Pat’s (Town) college in Wellington. Eventually, he would become the Hawke's Bay captain for most of the great shield reign, forming a close partnership with coach, McKenzie, but was also the inspiration behind the team, one of the best New Zealand provincial sides ever fielded.

Maurice was the equivalent of a modern blindside flanker. He was a big man for the 1920s, standing 6ft 1in and about 14st and enormously powerful. He was an excellent amateur boxer, at one time fighting fellow future All Black, Brian McCleary, (unsuccessfully) for the prestigious title of New Zealand heavyweight.

 

 

                                                  “He was something of a pug. He had a little science but a punch like the kick from a mule.”                          

                                                                                   Jackie Blake (Shield Fever, Lindsay Knight)

 

 

At the National Championships at Hastings, Municipal Theatre, in an earlier round, he had knocked a brawny policeman over the ropes and into the orchestra.

 

Maurice, who represented Hawkes Bay between 1921 and 1930, was a fine captain at national and international level, but it is said he possessed a rather ‘aloof’ personality, which did not always endear him to all of his team-mates. He also had a deep dislike for the press.

 

The oldest of the Brownlie boys, Cyril James (born in Wanganui in 1895), first played for the Bay in 1922 and was in the side that won the Ranfurly Shield from Wellington. Cyril was an extremely big man at 6ft 3in and over 15 stone. Also a loose forward in the 2-3-3 scrum formation, he was more of a toiler, therefore more akin to a modern lock forward. Educated at Sacred Heart College in Auckland, he was, like Maurice, a mainstay of the Hawkes Bay forward pack until 1930.

 

Samuel William Gemmell (born in Mohaka, near Wairoa, in 1896) was another to play for Hawkes Bay for the first time in 1921. Gemmell had the distinction of appearing in all of the 24 matches in the Magpies' celebrated Ranfurly Shield reign. He was in the team which lifted the shield from Wellington and was there when it was lost to Wairarapa.

 

Gemmell, played 74 matches for the Bay between 1921 and 1931, a staggering tally for those days. He was educated at Mohaka School and Maori Agricultural College, where he was in the 1st XV from 1915-17. After serving in World War I and playing for the Maori Pioneer Battalion team in Britain in 1919, upon return to New Zealand, he attended Te Aute College and played club rugby for Napier Marist. His brother John also played for Hawkes Bay under ‘Mac’ McKenzie.

 

"He was a great forward. He was a strong, four square sort of build, especially powerful in the shoulders, and he hadn't a friend in the world, on the other side at any rate, while he was playing. He really was a rugged hombre, but never asked a favour on the field and his whole ambition was to get at the ball." George Nepia (‘I, George Nepia’)

 

Also making his Hawkes Bay debut in 1921 was John Muldoon (‘Jackie’) Blake, born in Hastings in 1902. Blake was an eloquently balanced, talented centre, who appeared in 22 shield matches, in which he scored 22 tries. Between 1921 and 1928, Blake, who played for the Celtic club, scored 37 tries for the Magpies.

 

His father was John Thomas Blake, a noted historian and interpreter and his mother, Maata Takahi Tourawiri of the Titahi and Nga Mahanga sub tribes of the Taranaki people. 

 

John senior married Eliza Hastings Vickery and late in 1887, took up residence in Hastings. In 1889, John Blake qualified as a licensed interpreter. This coincided with the beginning of the celebrated Omahu case in the Native Land Court in Hastings, to determine the succession to the lands of the chief Renata Kawepo.

 

Kawepo was considered the senior leader of Hawke's Bay Maori. When Donald McLean arrived in 1850 to purchase land in Hawke's Bay for the Crown, Kawepo opposed other Maori, keen to sell large blocks to the colonists. His stand resulted in his being regarded as the protector of Hawke's Bay lands, from Maraekakaho to the ranges and across to the borders of Murimotu, in the centre of the North Island.

 

He had flour mills erected, contributed to the building of roads and bridges and distributed sheep to his people, providing the base for a new industry. Kawepo took a close interest in the administration of the Te Aute Trust and the school established there. He demanded that the children be taught academic subjects and do less manual labour.

John Blake was a prolific recorder of Hawke's Bay tribal history and took an active part in the development of Hastings and the surrounding district. He was a member of the Hastings Borough Council from 1913 to 1915.

 

Four of his sons played rugby for Hawkes Bay, two became Maori All Blacks and Jackie became an All Black in 1924. Jackie’s older brother, Phil, one of the outstanding Maori All Blacks of 1913, was killed in action during WWI.

 

The game which most remained etched in Jackie’s memory, was for New Zealand Natives against the Springboks in 1921, aged 19. The year before he had still been at high school, a boarder at Wellington's, St Pat's (Town). In later years, Blake recalled that just before kickoff he had been counselled by Sam Gemmell, who had told him; "Jackie, we are playing for our race."

 

Another from the Hastings Celtic club was John Alexander ‘Jack’ (nickname ‘Honi’) McNab, a rawboned farmer from near Hastings, the place of his birth in 1895. At a fraction over 6ft and nearly 15 stone, he was a big man, in the mould of the Brownlie boys and although the equivalent of a loose forward, was often moved to lock to accommodate the brothers.

McNab entered rugby after WWI, aged 25, when he first played for Hawke's Bay in 1920. Over the next five seasons, the former Hastings Boys High School student played in 43 matches for the Bay, his career eventually curtailed by appendicitis. Economical with his use of language, McNab’s wit was legendary.

 

 

           ‘Returning to his farm after a severe loss to Auckland, McNab and the rest of the Bay side were aware of a frosty welcome from a              displeased Bay public. "You know," observed McNab to his team-mates, "when I get home I think even the dog will bite me."

Terry McLean (Great Days in New Zealand Rugby)

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Of the shield winning side, as well as McNab; Blake, Grenside, Gemmell, Cyril Brownlie and Kirkpatrick would become All Blacks. Other members were; W P (Wattie) Barclay (a future Maori All Black captain), Gordon L (‘Frik’) Yates (51 matches between 1920 and 1931, an All Black trialist), L H Hingston, Jack Kirwan, Norman Kivell, J H Scott, ‘Snowy’ Miller (Dannevirke Old Boys), J C McGregor and Marty Wynn.

 

‘Frik’ Yates was a fine full back, unlucky not to have played at a higher level and Jack Kirwan would eventually turn to the league code and become a ‘Kiwi’. Kirwan was usually used at first five-eighth by McKenzie, but was a true utility back. 

The 19–9 victory on the 9th of August, came as a complete shock to the shield holders. Nothing in Hawke’s Bay’s recent rugby history suggested that the outcome would be anything other than a routine victory for Wellington.

 

But on the part of Norman McKenzie, the assault on Wellington was one planned with much shrewdness, stock and trade of his unique tactical approach on a game by game basis. Firstly, he had only telegrammed Wellington, requesting a challenge, a few days before the unscheduled match would take place. Wellington agreed and set the date for a Wednesday afternoon. 

 

The day played perfectly into Mac’s hands, as he had anticipated that being in the middle of the week, the holders pattern of preparing for a match was more likely to be disrupted. Some Wellington players were unavailable owing to work commitments and with Mark and ‘Ginger’ Nicholls, Umberto Calcinai and Syd Shearer in Australia with the All Blacks, the defenders were well below full strength.

 

Even so, there seemed to be modest concern in the capital and the match aroused little interest as the result was seemingly a foregone conclusion.

 

 

“In those days, if you didn’t play in one of the four main centres, you were nothing! We were an unknown team when we  took the shield                   from Wellington in 1922. In fact, they gave us only a Wednesday game and until that time, we only used to play their ‘B’ side”.       Jackie Blake (Shield Fever, Lindsay Knight)

     

 

Unfortunately, similar sentiments were expressed by a member of the HBRU at an official function after the match, where the member indicated that Wellington had done little to support rugby in Hawkes Bay, at the time under some serious pressure from the code of League.

 

Largely this came about as Hawkes Bay were not considered part of the ‘big six’ (Auckland, Wellington, Taranaki, Canterbury, Otago and Southland). 

 

In 1920, the Bay had failed quite miserably in an attempt to win the shield, going down to Wellington by 5 – 20. In a return match in Napier the same season, Hawkes Bay had won by 17 – 3, but this was the first time they’d defeated the team from the Capital since 1890.

 

In fact, of the 26 meetings between the two sides, since 1885, Hawkes Bay had won only the two games, with another being drawn, 3 – 3 in 1900. The Bay had failed to even register a point in nine of these matches.

Before challenging again in 1922, they had been beaten by a scratch NZ Maori outfit on June 10th, by 18 points to 11, after Maurice Brownlie and Cowper had scored early tries. A large contingent of the Bay side were, however, playing that day for the Maori.

 

*****

 

Athletic Park, Wellington. August 9th, 1922.

 

 

Except for a prevailing northerly breeze, conditions were favourable at Athletic Park for the first challenge of 1922. The match was attended by around 4,000.

 

The forward battle was keenly contested with the Bay perceived to have had a slight edge. But in the backs, where the game was won, the challengers certainly were better on the day, if not on paper. The holders back-line suffered from a lack of cohesion, bad passing and poor handling.

 

As the match ebbed and flowed one way and the other, it was Jack Kirwan who eventually broke the drought by scoring the game’s first try. Standen equalized for Wellington. Scott scored for the Magpies, converted by Yates, giving the Bay an 8 – 3 advantage. A Yates penalty completed the scoring during the first half.

 

Udy scored first in the second spell as the holders closed the gap to 11 – 6. Wattie Barclay appeared to have scored for the challengers, but instead a scrum was ordered, from which, under a pile of bodies, Jack McNab was awarded the try.

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Wellington bombed a few chances as they desperately tried to claw their way back into the game and retain the trophy. King went over the line, only to be held up by two defenders and Wogan, having charged down a clearing kick, knocked on in attempting to regather and score.

 

Cyril Brownlie intercepted a pass and set off on a forty yard dash before feeding Kirwan who scored beneath the posts. Yates converted and the Bay led by 19 points to 6.

 

Bill Ryan, who had replaced Standen completed the scoring with a try and thereafter Wellington’s exertions failed to penetrate the Bay defence further.

 

After lifting the shield in Wellington, the Bay were beaten by Otago in Dunedin by 11 points to 8, but with the trophy not at stake, it returned to Magpie country to ready the first challenge. A number of key personnel were missing from the Bay lineup, but on the day there was no doubt that Otago were the better side, the try count being two to one in their favour.

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William Richard ‘Bull’ or ‘Bill’ Irvine, who hailed from the Wairarapa, joined the Hawkes Bay ranks in 1922. ‘Bull’ played for the Waipukurau Rovers club and would remain a Magpie until the end of the 1926 season.

 

*****

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Although Maurice Brownlie was available after the New Zealand tour of Australia, Norm McKenzie chose the same team that won the shield from Wellington for the first defence against Bay of Plenty. The only change made was enforced through injury, bringing in Irvine for Wynn.

 

McKenzie would instantly rue his decision not to play his All Black as the whole ‘shield’ dream nearly turned into a nightmare. The Bay held on 17–16 over Bay of Plenty, only because the challengers failed to convert a last-minute try near the posts.

 

Saturday, September 2nd, 1922. Nelson Park, Hastings: HAWKES BAY 17, BAY OF PLENTY 16 (C J Brownlie, L H Kingston, W P Barclay, J M Blake tries. G L Yates penalty and conversion)

 

 

“Having won the shield, Hawkes Bay, after a triumphal return, sat down to await challengers. Ned Parata was in first on behalf of Bay of Plenty. He was a wily campaigner and had his team in ‘smoke’ for a week prior to the game.”        

Norman McKenzie (Shield Fever, Lindsay Knight)

 

 

There was no band out to meet Parata and his Bay of Plenty team when they arrived in Napier. They came overland, via Rotorua and Taupo and arrived unannounced at the back door. A secrecy and stillness as before a storm pervaded the atmosphere of their presence and this stillness created an unsettled feeling amongst the home supporters.

 

The match was played in ‘ideal conditions’ in Hastings, before a crowd of 4,000. Hawkes Bay had fought every inch of the way to be ahead 11 – 10 at half time.

 

Two minutes before full time, the score was 17 – 13 in favour of the holders, but C Alexander scored for Bay of Plenty to close the gap to one point. Time has served to colour all the terrible things which happened as that conversion was about to be taken, but the record books show the result – the kick was missed by N. Boucher.

 

The Bay of Plenty forwards, led by ‘Lex’ McLean, were big and energetic, McLean especially playing as never before or since. In the backs was Viv Wilson and his straight running worried our fellows all day.

 

 Right on time, Bay of Plenty scored right beside the goal post, making it 17-16 in Hawkes Bay’s favour. The converting kick appeared to be a matter of course, but here, skipper McLean faltered and fell. At first he intended taking the kick himself, then he called Boucher, the half back, up. 

 

This little chap got an attack of the staggers at once. Trembling like a leaf, he placed the ball, with his team mates tendering plenty of advice. He retired to kick, went forward and replaced the ball and finally, let drive and almost missed the ball altogether. 

 

"The sigh of relief that went up could, I feel sure, have been heard miles away. To me, when Boucher was preparing for the                                                                   kick, the goalposts appeared about a mile apart.”                                                                  

Norm McKenzie, (Shield Fever)

 

Hawkes Bay had a new motto, probably coined by Mac, ‘what we have we shall hold’. The motto was rekindled in the 1960’s by then coach and selector Colin Le Quesne, ‘to have and to hold.’ Between the two great shield sides from the Hawkes Bay, the motto was aired on no less than forty seven occasions.

 

*****

 

Saturday, September 16th, 1922. McLean Park, Napier: HAWKES BAY 42, KING COUNTRY 8 (B A Grenside 3, U Batchelor 2, R F O’Donoghue 2, J Kirwan & T Daly tries. G L Yates 5 & R F O’Donoghue conversions. G L Yates penalty)

 

 

The NZRU, at their annual general meeting, had recently approved the formation of the King Country Union. An earlier attempt to form a main trunk union, involving a number of smaller sub-unions in the central North Island, had failed to gain approval from the games national governing body.

 

Maniapoto (Te Kuiti) and Taumarunui had withdrawn from the Waikato Union and amalgamated with Ohura Valley and Ruapehu, based in Ohakune, who had recently left the confines of Wanganui.

 

In the final match of the 1922 shield season, King Country (which now shared a boundary with Hawkes Bay) was given a shield challenge. The Bay ran out comfortable winners by 42 points to 8.

 

Headed by the great old time athlete, Gus Carlson, the lads from the land of rimu and tall timber, presented their cards at McLean Park, but when the acid was put upon them, they were unable to respond.

 

Still reeling from the Bay of Plenty challenge, the Hawkes Bay faithful were a little anxious but needed not have been, as the Magpies shot out to a 26 to nil half time lead.

 

The second half was a scrappy affair, with little teamwork involved, the Bay getting home easily with some great individual play from Kirwan, O’Donoghue, Gemmell and Batchelor.

 

*****

 

 

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Amongst the new players introduced to the Hawkes Bay side in 1923 were Jimmy Mill, Tommy Corkill, Lui Paewai, and Jack Ormond.

 

James Joseph ‘Jimmy’ Mill was born in the East Coast town of Tokomaru Bay in 1899 and was educated at Napier Boys High School and Nelson College, where he was in the 1st XV during 1916-18. In 1921, he played twice against the first Springboks, for Hawkes Bay-Poverty Bay and for New Zealand Natives.

 

Mill then toured Australia with Maori sides in both 1922 and 1923, and made his All Blacks debut a year later against New South Wales in Dunedin.

 

Standing 5' 7" and weighing 10st 12lb, Mill, from the Napier Marist club, was a speedy, resourceful and clever half back with a lightning fast break on the blind side of the scrum. He was the perfect half back for the Bay game plan, offering quick ball to his speedy outsides. Occasionally he ran, but generally after he had established a pattern of continually passing, so that the move was a surprise.

 

 

                                                                             “Whenever Jimmy ran you could bet your shirt he would score.”                                                                                 Bert Grenside (Shield Fever, Lindsay Knight)

 

 

A sheep farmer, Mill was also a fine wicket keeper and was a member of the Poverty Bay cricket team which won the Hawke Cup in the 1918-19 season.

 

Thomas George Corkill, born in Wairoa in 1901, was yet another Bay player who had attended St Pats (Town) in Wellington, as a boarder. The Wairoa Pirate was first and foremost a half back, but Mill had a mortgage in that position for both Hawkes Bay and the All Blacks. Corkill was obliged to look at other places in the back line.

 

As well as being Mill's understudy, Corkill turned out for the Bay as a five eighths, fullback and wing. Though rarely a first choice in the great Magpie side, he still managed 31 matches for the union between 1923 and ’27.

 

Born in Dannevirke in 1906, Lui Paewai is generally accepted as being the youngest man to have ever played rugby for New Zealand. If his birth date is correct, he was only 17 years 36 days when he played for the All Blacks at first five eighths against New South Wales at Athletic Park in 1923.

 

Paewai attended the Maori Agricultural College with George Nepia, where his immense promise was noted by McKenzie. As a 16-year old he had his first match for the Bay in 1922 and between then and 1926 he played for the province on 24 occasions. Thirteen of these matches were defending the Ranfurly Shield.

 

John ‘Jack’ Ormond, born on December 18th, 1891 in Mahia, had attended Christs College in Christchurch. Because he farmed in the remote Mahia peninsula, where he played for the Wairoa sub union and then because of WWI, Ormond was well into his twenties before playing first class rugby. This was for the Pioneer Maori Battalion side, which at the end of WWI, made a nine match tour of New Zealand, with Ormond appearing in every game.

 

Jacks grandfather was John Davies Ormond (1832–1917) a New Zealand politician, whose positions included Superintendent of the Hawke's Bay Province, Minister of Public Works and member of the New Zealand Legislative Council.

He represented the Clive electorate in Parliament from 1861 to 1881, when he was defeated (standing for Waipawa). He then represented Napier from 1884 to 1890, before retirement.

 

Aged 15, ‘J D’ had stepped ashore in Auckland from his home in Wallingford, Berkshire in England, as the secretary to E J Eyre, the Lieutenant-Governor of New Munster.

 

By the end of 1860, all the creeks from Waipukurau to Blackhead (Blackhead reef provided the wool loading and incoming goods landing area serviced by small coastal vessels) had been bridged and by 1862, the new Wallingford Village had a store, a blacksmith and two hotels.

 

The Honourable J D Ormond was a major owner and breeder of thoroughbred horses during the late 19th century. ‘Zimmerman’, won a host of top races in 1907-08 including the Great Northern Derby and the Auckland Cup, in ‘JD’s’ racing colours, all cerise. 

 

He was one of the founders of the Hawkes Bay Jockey Club in 1866 and the following year was instrumental in establishing the NZ Racing Conference. J D Ormond was appointed the Hawkes Bay representative and held that position until his death in 1917. He served one term as its president, a position he also held at the Hawkes Bay Jockey Club.

 

He established Karamu Stud on the Heretaunga Plains, bounded on one side by the Karamu stream, with a large set of stables opposite. There he built a house. Either side of the ‘one mile driveway’ (now called Ormond Road) he planted acorns which, over a century later, provide a magnificent Oak Avenue.

 

His grandson, Jack, played twenty times for the Bay, from 1923-’25, of which ten were in Ranfurly Shield defences.

Originally from the Taranaki, Albert Charles ‘Alby’ Falwasser, described by many as ‘unlucky not to be an All Black’, was regarded as ‘a very fast and clever wing, with a deceptive swerve, noted for scoring thrilling tries.’ Because he could side-step at full pace, he was described as having a ‘corkscrew run’. A New Zealand Maori representative from 1926 – ’28, it was alleged he would have toured South Africa as a full All Black in 1928, had that team been able to include Maori.

 

Falwasser represented Hawkes Bay between 1923 and 1925, scoring 22 tries. In 1925, he was one of eight players from Hawkes Bay chosen to play for the North Island and the only of this ilk that was not or would not become an All Black. The match played in Invercargill was won by the North by 16 – 5. He eventually switched codes and joined the Wigan League Club in northern England in 1930.

 

The unsung hero of the Hawkes Bay shield sides of the 1920’s was wing forward and tactician, Jimmy Walker. The future Maori All Black was not only brought into McKenzie’s squad because of his speed and rawboned ability, but because he was a tremendous reader of the game.

 

Walker was the first player Mac turned to at half time if things weren’t going to well, for not only diagnosis of any perceived problem, but also a remedy. The pair were kindred spirits in that they were not only players, but true students of the game.

 

A carnival match held in March in Dannevirke, to raise money for the purchase of a ground, realised a tidy profit for the southern sub union. Being eighty miles away from the Napier headquarters of the HBRU, the jurisdiction of that parent body had often been a handicap for the side and administrators from Dannevirke, which translates as ‘Danish creation’, from its earliest European settlement.

 

With Jack Kirwan, ‘Snowy’ Miller, Bull Irvine, Jimmy Walker and Wattie Barclay all hailing from the district, they were in fact so strong, that they had attained a good measure of success against not only Bush, but also Wairarapa and of late, Manawatu.

 

The southern confines of Hawkes Bay were not alone in this capacity. Wairoa, way up north, was also a very fine producer of rugby sides. In 1924, Wairoa had beaten a combined Napier-Hastings side containing the Brownlie’s, Grenside and company, a representative strength side.

 

As Auckland had beaten the All Blacks and Hawkes Bay defeated Auckland, in jocular fashion Wairoa folk mused that they were, in fact, the best side in the world.

 

 

               “We used to travel to Wairoa by boat. We’d leave Napier on the ferry ‘Tangaroa’ at 10pm and arrive in Wairoa at about six or                                                          seven in the morning and they would stop the town for the match.”                                          

Jackie Blake (Shield Fever, Lindsay Knight)

 

 

Jackie Blake also recalls that Maurice Brownlie had the referee stop play to count the number of Wairoa players on the field. Someone from the home side, presumably in the ‘Green’ of Wairoa, had been bumping up the local numerical advantage.

 

Other sideline antics came into play also, Grenside alleging that he had been tripped by the umbrella of a spectator while running down the touchline.

 

It had been noted in ‘The NZ Truth’ newspaper, that since around 1918, Hawkes Bay rugby in general had been on the ascend. Since winning the shield, it was said, women and children who had never before thought of the game, now followed rugby and that local gates had ‘trebled’, putting the HBRU in a sound financial position.

 

*****

 

Monday, June 4th, 1923. McLean Park, Napier: HAWKES BAY 6, WAIRARAPA 0 (P Martin-Smith try. G Nepia penalty)

 

When McKenzie named his side for the first defence against Wairarapa, it was further noted that ‘large crowds congregated at the different notice boards, some prior to their publication’ to view the news first hand.

 

Hawkes Bay were successful in their first defence of 1923, defeating Wairarapa by 6 – 0. Some of the Bay’s Maori players were not available, despite requests from the Hawkes Bay union that they be released to play this fixture. The NZ Maori team had recently returned from a tour of Australia and were preparing to meet Otago in Dunedin. The NZRU stated that ‘nationally selected sides engagements took precedence’.

 

Players from the Hawkes Bay region chosen to play for the Maori were; Jackie Blake, Wattie Barclay, Sam Gemmell, Matui of Wairoa and Akiura of Te Aute College.

 

Hawkes Bay were also without Jackie Blake for the Wairarapa challenge, ‘having been compelled to enter hospital’ and Bert Grenside, who had sustained a broken thumb.

 

5,000 spectators, including a large number of ladies, stood or sat without covering throughout the unpleasant conditions to witness the first challenge of the new season. Heavy rain in the morning had made the ground heavy and sloppy and continued to fall throughout the match.

 

Naturally, handling the leather in such miserable conditions was a thankless task and in consequence, the ball was kept mainly on the ground, meaning the game became a tedious forward exchange.

 

With both sides missing penalty kick opportunities, the score remained at 0 – 0 until half time. In the second spell, the visitors kept the Bay pinned in their own territory for some time, but the holders held on with grim determination.

Nepia was successful with a well taken penalty, given the greasy ball and it wasn’t until the last minute of the match that Percy Martin-Smith scored the only try of the game, securing a hard fought victory for the holders.

 

On the 21st of July, Wairarapa extracted their revenge on the Bay, defeating them by 6 – 0 in Carterton. The shield was not at stake.

 

Next up, hell bent on retrieving the trophy, were Wellington. The rumblings and intermittent escape of pent up gas from Wellington to Hawkes Bay reminded one press writer of the great Wairaki geyser about to burst.

 

*****

 

Saturday, July 28th, McLean Park, Napier: HAWKES BAY 10, WELLINGTON 6 (G L Yates, dropped goal. G Nepia, penalty goal. A Kirkpatrick, goal from a mark) 

 

For the 28th of July fixture, the HBRU had purchased the League stand at McLean Park and an additional 2,000 ‘Kerosens’ oil cases, such was the interest in the match. Work was well underway on a new stand and it was hoped that with the aid of some fine weather, it too would be ready for patrons before the Wellington challenge.

 

The side from the Windy City side was not as strong as they had been in previous seasons. All Black and former provincial captain, George Aitken, had left for Oxford to take up a Rhodes scholarship.

 

They still possessed Mark Nicholls who to this day, with a hint of the romantic, continues to make ‘best ever’ selections ahead of a formidable bunch of New Zealand five-eighths. Also expected to play were former All Black lock, Jim Moffitt and future All Black winger, Ken ‘Snowy’ Svenson.

 

Nicholls was a member of a celebrated sporting family. His father, Sid, was an early Wellington rugby identity who had helped start the Poneke club, even though his children were all to be closely associated with Petone.

 

Mark's brothers, H E "Ginger" and H G "Doc", were also All Blacks in the 1920s and sister, Dulcie, was a national tennis champion. Another brother, Guy, played for North Auckland in 1929 and ‘30. Nicholls and his brothers were all competent cricketers.

 

Cliff Porter had returned to the Capital in 1923 and the All Black wing forward was perceived as a real threat by McKenzie and Maurice Brownlie.

 

Hawkes Bay were further concerned by the fact that Wattie Barclay had been injured in a match against Southland before the Wellington challenge and wasn’t expected to play, neither Jackie Blake who was still on the ‘sick’ list. They were also still without their Maori representatives, which was expected to aid the challengers from the capital.

 

In fact, Hawkes Bay were having some anxious moments in hanging onto, as it was known then, ‘the wood’. Largely outplayed, the Bay repelled Wellington, winning by 10 – 6.

 

The ‘Evening Post’ reports that Wellington was the better side on the day, with a greater knowledge of the game than their northern provincial counterparts. It also states that the combination and co-operation between backs and forwards was far superior to that of Hawkes Bay.

 

The Wellington coach, ex-All Black legend, Billy Wallace, said that the defence put up by Wellington in the closing stages, when the Bay were enjoying their finest period of the match was the best he’d seen for many a year.

 

Aided by a strong wind, Hawkes Bay’s points had come from a drop kick from just inside halfway (‘Frik’ Yates), a drop kicked penalty goal from a couple of yards over halfway (George Nepia) and a goal from a mark (Alex Kirkpatrick). Wellington scored two tries, one each to W Faber and Jimmy Duncan.

 

This challenge is regarded as the match that did more than any other to make the Ranfurly Shield the ultimate symbol of provincial rugby supremacy. It was also responsible for some petty parochial squabbles.

 

An ‘Evening Post’ writer claimed that had a proposal by the French Union been accepted in England concerning the scoring points system in rugby (that a try be worth 4 points, dropped goal 3 points, penalty goal or goal from a mark 2 points and a conversion of a try 1), Wellington would have won the match by 8 points to 7.

 

It is said however, that the Wellington side accepted the defeat like true sportsman and offered their congratulations at the after match dinner, but claimed a moral victory over the holders.

 

Considerable feeling had been generated on the field and Hawkes Bay’s hard and uncompromising methods were not wholly admired.

 

Complaints were laid against one Hawkes Bay player in the press, who it was stated, should have received his marching orders following some ‘over vigourous tactics’ and that the particular player had already been ordered from the field earlier in the season in a club match for the same approach taken.

 

“Hawkes Bay’s bullocking tactics near the Wellington line, served no good purpose”, said the writer, “Drop Kick” in the ‘Evening Post’, who then proceeded to launch an attack on the Hawkes Bay weather, citing the strong wind as ‘an upset to the rhythm of the match’ and ‘it was a feather in Wellingtons cap that they were able to score a try playing into it.’  

Not finished yet, “Drop Kick”, further mentions that ‘the surface of McLean Park was not as even as Wellington’s principal grounds, the visiting players finding quite a number of little mounds and hollows.’

 

If Hawkes Bay were properly coached, said “Drop Kick”, they would be a ‘top notch’ side and that they would ‘need to produce more skill if it is to retain the shield for the rest of the season’. They were to retain ‘the log’ for not just the rest of the season, but also the following three. 

 

The crowd of 6,000 was the largest recorded at an interprovincial match in Napier and the gate takings totalled around 631 pounds.

 

Wellington captain, H E Nicholls, said at the dinner following, that while Wellington would have loved to have taken ‘the old log of wood’ back with them, it was his understanding that its retention in the province would do a lot of good. He was referring to the extinction of the League code in the Bay and that only one game was wanted – ‘Rugby’.

 

On field antics may have been in question but the hospitality of the people of Hawkes Bay was not. The Wellington team and administrators were treated to a host of events including boxing championships on Friday and Saturday evenings.

A most enjoyable outing on Sunday afternoon included a visit to ‘Otatara’, the residence of Mrs. M A Perry, a ‘most enthusiastic supporter of the game in Hawkes Bay’. A party of about forty made the trip into the country, where afternoon tea and music were provided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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*****

 

Saturday, August 11th, 1923. Nelson Park, Hastings: HAWKES BAY 15, POVERTY BAY 0 (C J Brownlie, J Mapu, G Nepia, J J Mill & N L Kivell tries)

 

In the next challenge, from Poverty Bay, the backs came out of their shell to produce a fine display and repulse their northern neighbours’ candid attempt by 15 points to nil. Poverty Bay were without four of their leading players, J and T Heeney, Brown and Langlands. Equally, Hawkes Bay were without Maurice Brownlie, Smith and Kirwan.

 

The ground was sodden after two days of heavy rain and drizzle continued to fall throughout. Again, the conditions were a leveller and Poverty Bay remained in the game for much of the first half until Cyril Brownlie dived over after a line out near the challenger’s line. The only other scoring act of the first half occurred after Mill had sent his backs away, James Mapu dotting down.

 

On changing over, Nepia kicked ahead and then toed over the line and scored. Batchelor tried to emulate but was forced out near the corner. From the ensuing scrum, Mill set off on a dummying run and scored a clever try. Following a line out, Norman Kivell scored the Bay’s fifth and final unconverted try.

 

*****

 

Wednesday, August 15th, 1923. Nelson Park, Hastings: HAWKES BAY 9, CANTERBURY 8 (B A Grenside, L Paewai & G Nepia tries)

 

Despite claims by local supporters that Hawkes Bay at present had the best 1st XV in provincial rugby in New Zealand, others were sceptical. Wins in the three shield matches thus far had been scratchy and the feared Canterbury side were up next.

 

The Cantab’s had enjoyed an exceptionally good season, defeating eleven other provincial sides and containing no fewer than nine present or future All Blacks. South Canterbury and Hawkes Bay were the only sides to lower their colours in 1923.

They possessed a brilliant pack made up of tall, fast forwards, a match for any in the country. The inside back combination of C. St George and R Evans were described as ‘safe and correct’.

 

The game, played in Hastings, gripped the crowd from ‘bell to bell’, especially a large and vocal contingent from Christchurch (who it was later noted were ‘rendered speechless’ before the match ended.)

 

The game, essentially a battle between two forward packs, saw the ‘condition’ of the Bay side get home in the last fifteen minutes. Down by two points, the Magpies put in a ‘final spurt’, of which Canterbury had little answer other than to watch the clock tick away in the hope that they could hang on.

 

Bert Grenside scored first for the defenders, following a move involving Walker and Ormond. The lead was soon effaced by Canterbury when centre, Ian Brown, took a mark in a good position and successfully steered the ball between the uprights.

 

With forwards Petersen, Turpin and Diedrich leading rush after rush in desperate style, Petersen broke clear and fed Jim Parker, who dived over for a try. Brown converted and Canterbury had the lead amid the frantic clamour of their followers.

In fact Hawkes Bay, down 3-8 at one stage, could have gone 3-13 behind had Grenside not come from his wing to nab Canterbury’s wing forward and sprint champion, Parker, in full flight and heading for the posts.

 

Then there was a swift change of fortune. Brownlie, Ormond and Walker combined with Grenside to put Louis Paewai in for a try. George Nepia failed to convert.

 

Canterbury were now defending. The Bay, seemingly recovered from their languor, were making desperate attempts to score.

 

And then, embroiled in controversy, Nepia scored the winning try, to the dismay of the Canterbury players who claimed that the ball did not cross the line. Earlier, a Canterbury player, Bill Dalley, appeared to have scored (verified by several of the Hawkes Bay players), but the try was not awarded.

 

Canterbury, who at the time had never held the Ranfurly Shield, had come almost as close as you can to lifting the trophy, losing by 9 – 8. It was said that they had a definitive edge in the backs, playing as a team, while the Bay relied heavily on ‘individualism’.

 

It was a game packed with excitement and incident. A match Canterbury may well have deserved to have won, but certainly, equally, Hawkes Bay would have been unlucky to lose.

 

*****

 

The closeness of the score and the fact that the Aucklander’s also laid claim to being the ‘best team in the land’, made their late bid for a challenge in 1923 an interesting prospect. Never one to dodge a bullet, McKenzie and the HBRU accepted the challenge and Auckland’s chances were considered ‘bright’, given the big scores they had racked up against other provinces in recent times.

 

In between times, Hawkes Bay had denied a request from the Bay of Plenty union to make their match in Rotorua on August 18th a special challenge. Wellington and Southland had both been generous in previous years by ‘taking the shield on tour’, but the Bay were sticking to the official rules of only having to defend it on home soil. Bay of Plenty were defeated by 27 points to nil, the Magpies running in seven tries and converting three.

 

The Hawkes Bay side spent the next few weeks away from home, playing other central North Island unions with results as follow;

 

22/08/23: defeated King Country in Taumarunui by 14 – 8. (Irvine, McGregor, C Brownlie and Kivell tries. Irvine one conversion)

 

25/08/23: defeated Taranaki in New Plymouth by 29 – 3. (Batchelor, McGregor, C Brownlie, Hingston, Kivell and McNab tries. Nepia four conversions and one penalty)

 

29/08/23: defeated Wanganui in Wanganui by 16 – 6. (Grenside, Kivell and Gemmell tries. Yates one conversion and one penalty. Grenside one conversion)

 

05/09/23: defeated New South Wales in Napier by 36 – 12. This was a combined side from Hawkes Bay, Poverty Bay and the East Coast. Maurice Brownlie, Kirkpatrick and Jimmy Walker from Hawkes Bay were among the try scorers with Nepia contributing eleven points via his boot.

 

The combined side led by 16 – 6 at the interval, with the Brownlie boys to the fore in completely disrupting any flow of the ball to the backs from the Australian state. The combined forwards showed ‘great dash and stamina, giving the Blues no respite.’

 

At dinner, the New South Wales management indicated that the combined side had been the best side that they had yet encountered on tour and that such an easy victory had not been contemplated.

 

The HBRU laid a complaint with its New Zealand parent body over the fact that, despite overwhelming every other pack they’d come up against, no Hawkes Bay forwards (Gemmell aside) had been selected for the national side to face the New South Welshmen, nor half back, Jimmy Mill.

 

Further on Gemmell; “It is patent to the veriest tyro”, the letter from the HBRU stated, “that possession of the ball in an international match is absolutely essential. The action of the selectors in playing Gemmell in the front row requires an explanation, as the position is absolutely foreign to him.”

 

*****

 

Saturday, September 8th, 1923. McLean Park, Napier: HAWKES BAY 38, HOROWHENUA 11 (B A Grenside 3, A C Falwasser, T Daly, S W Gemmell, M J Brownlie, J Walker, W R Irvine & G Nepia tries. G Nepia 3 & M J Brownlie conversions) 

 

Horowhenua came to Hastings to try their luck at winning the shield and were easily put away by 38 – 11. Horowhenua had caused a stir earlier in the season when they had thoroughly dismantled the Manawatu by 22 – 6.

 

The ‘Manawatu Times’ made mention of the fact that their side had been ‘licked to a standstill in every point of the game’ and that ‘Horowhenua unloaded a human avalanche, which paralysed the opposition and made them look simply stupid.’

Hawkes Bay were to be a completely different kettle of fish however, the holders running in ten tries.

 

*****

 

Saturday, September 22nd, 1923. McLean Park, Napier: HAWKES BAY 20, AUCKLAND 5 (J J Mill 2, L Paewai, J A McNab & J Walker tries. G Nepia conversion and goal from a mark)

 

Horowhenua’s claims were one thing, but Auckland, with their history, especially with the shield, were the benchmark. Like all Auckland sides, they arrived in Napier full of themselves and their virtuous deeds, only to be hammered by 20 points to 5.

 

Auckland had some celebrated players; Bert Cooke, still arguably the greatest of All Black backs, fellow AB’s, Fred Lucas and Karl Ifwerson, regarded, like Cooke, as some of the great players of this era.

 

Warm, spring weather prevailed and the crowd was estimated to be between eight or nine thousand strong. The Auckland defence was at times splendid, but they were completely lacking in successful offensive tactics and in consequence, spent most of the afternoon pinned in their own territory.

 

The speed of the Hawkes Bay forwards and their superiority in the scrums and line outs meant that the visitors backs had few chances and what did come their way were spoiled by lack of combination.

 

Hawkes Bay, it is said; “thrashed the visitors fore and aft and pounded them by the exact methods that left the gay city almost unbeatable in its day.”

 

“Hawkes Bay gave the Blue and Whites a taste of this department of the game and the Caseys, the Fogartys and O'Briens were scattered and battered to a standstill, while Ifwerson and his splendid little men behind him could not, despite the utmost courage and resource, stem or stop the ever recurring pounding.”

 

“The short quick pass is the new power and nothing, short of a machine gun, could stop the fine Bay pack when they got going. In Saturday's game, no team in the Dominion could stand up to them and few teams, if any, from the glorious past would have beaten them forward — All Blacks and the great Auckland and South Island teams of 1902 included. Such is the great Hawkes Bay pack of 1923.”

 

Lui Paewai scored the first try after Cyril Brownlie had broken through the line out. McNab scored next after a fine run down the touch line by Bert Grenside. George Nepia marked on half way and potted a splendid goal. Hawkes Bay were up by 9 – 0.

 

The Hawkes Bay backs essayed a passing movement as the second half began, which resulted in a try to Jimmy Mill. The shining light of the Auckland backline, Bert Cooke, scored and gave the Queen city challengers some hope, especially after Ifwerson converted. But at 12 to 5, that was as close as they’d come.

 

Mill darted around the side of the scrum to score his second, which Nepia converted with a fine kick. Jimmy Walker completed the scoring for the holders with a try from loose play.

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*****

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon invitation, the Hawkes Bay side - executives and players alike - were quick to respond in the affirmative, in playing a return match in Auckland (shield not at stake) for the benefit of the soldiers War Memorial Fund. 20,000 spectators from all over the North Island witnessed what has been described as ‘a match that will be remembered for many a day’.

 

The Auckland union was deeply appreciative of the positive response of the Bay administration and representatives; “Despite the lateness of the season and gruelling football, every player is ready to pack his swag and shift- north to help the cause.”

On October 6th, the Queen City representatives were successful in lowering the colours of Hawkes Bay to the tune of 17 – 9, after the Wairarapa match in Carterton in July, the only other loss the Magpies suffered in 1923.

 

*****

 

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