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Regional rugby

Page 15 – Hawke's Bay rugby

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The Hawke’s Bay Rugby Football Union was established in 1884, making it the oldest provincial union outside the four main centres. For a good chunk of the 1920s and in the late 1960s Hawke’s Bay set the standard for provincial rugby in this country. The ‘Magpies’ have a proud Ranfurly Shield pedigree, with 56 successful defences by 2015. This ranks them third on the all-time list, behind only Auckland and Canterbury. Hawke’s Bay were key players during a remarkable four weeks in 2013 when the shield changed hands four times. Following Otago's surprise victory over Waikato, Hawke's Bay ended a 44-year shield drought nine days later with a gripping 20-19 win in Dunedin. The province had little time to savour the victory, losing 27-24 to Counties Manukau just six days later – the shortest tenure in shield history. Hawke’s Bay reclaimed the shield from Counties Manukau in 2014, winning 27–21 in Pukekohe. After 11 successful defences, Hawke’s Bay lost the shield to Waikato in the last challenge of 2015.

In 1997, shortly after the introduction of professional rugby, Hawke’s Bay merged with nearby Manawatu to form the Central Vikings with the goal of giving local players the chance to play in the first division of the NPC. The composite team won the 1998 second division title before the two unions reverted to their original structures. Hawke’s Bay currently plays in the professional ITM Cup, in which it has won the second-tier championship division in 2011 and 2015. Along with East Coast, Poverty Bay, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wairarapa-Bush, Horowhenua-Kapiti and Wellington, Hawke’s Bay is part of the Hurricanes Super Rugby franchise.

Among the nearly 50 men from the Bay who have played for the All Blacks are some of the greatest names in New Zealand rugby. They include the three Brownlie brothers and George Nepia in the 1920s, and 1960s star Kel Tremain. Neil Thimbleby played a record 158 games for Hawke’s Bay between 1959 and 1971. Jarrod Cunningham’s tally of 998 points between 1990 and 1998 remains a record for the Bay.

The ‘Magnificent Magpies’

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How to cite this page

'Hawke's Bay rugby', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/regional-rugby/hawkes-bay, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27-Oct-2015

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Ian McGibbon

Posted: 25 Aug 2010

I recall attending the King Country challenge in 1969, a time when games were invariably played in mid-afternoon. A student at Victoria University of Wellington, I made a belated decision to hitchhike to Napier to see the game. My girlfriend and I headed out to Paekakariki on the unit and began hitching from there. Almost immediately we struck it lucky. A car stopped and the driver, a friendly Maori gentleman probably in his 40s, informed us he was heading to Napier --- and, it soon transpired, for the same reason. He was an avid King Country supporter, working for NZ Railways in Wellington. This all seemed too good to be true --- a timely and comfortable ride all the way to our destination! We hadn’t gone very far, however, before it became obvious that our driver wasn’t very experienced. Enquiries soon elicited the fact that he didn’t usually drive but had rented a car to go up and see the game. The erratic but not necessarily dangerous driving style certainly got our attention, and thinking of the Manawatu Gorge coming up I at last asked him if he would like me to drive some of the way. There was relief all round when he accepted with alacrity. I settled into the driver’s seat, and we proceeded to Napier, bantering with each other about the likely result. We parted company at the ground, and within a few minutes of the game starting Hawkeye was squawking as the Bay took a seemingly unassailable lead. I started to feel sorry for our companion on the trip up, spending so much of his hard earned cash to attend a game that had quickly turned sour for his team. But, of course, those feelings soon disappeared as King Country staged their fantastic rally in the second half, and the crowd got quieter and quieter as the possibility of losing the shield began to loom. The final outcome, a 19-16 victory for the Bay, was greeted with huge relief. My expectation of getting a ride back to Dannevirke, where we intended to try to get a lift out to my parents’ farm, with family members who would also be attending the game proved ill-founded. So we made our way back to the rental car. Our former companion soon arrived, both elated and disappointed at the outcome of the game. I drove us down to Dannevirke. He got back to Wellington without incident. I know this because I later ran into him one afternoon in the Thistle Inn and we spent a congenial couple of hours reliving the game over a few beers.