Bowls: Competitive spirit still alive

Former All Black Bryan Williams is skip of one of the 40 teams entered in the Peter Johnstone Memorial ex-Rugby Players Invitational Tournament held at Bowls Mount Maunganui. Photo / Andrew Warner

The ability to beat an opponent with speed, hit harder in the tackle or scrummage tougher than any other are fleeting memories for former rugby players tussling it out on the Bowls Mount Maunganui greens over the past two days.

But the competitive spirit is still very much alive for the bumper field of 160 bowlers taking part in the 24th Peter Johnstone Memorial ex-Rugby Players Invitational Tourna-ment that finishes today.

The field included provincial rugby players from bygone days and seven former All Blacks in Bryan Williams, Keith Nelson, Adrian Clark, Richie Guy, Murray Wills, Alastair Scown and Ian Eliason.

Tournament convenor Ray Goldfinch said numbers were up on last year and there was a stronger representation of former Bay of Plenty players this time.

A highlight after play yesterday was the presentation of the Maori Sports Awards Charitable Trusts Rugby Scholarship grant of $1000 to Luka Connor. Connor was forward of the year in last year's BOP Women's Volcanix team and she is in the Black Ferns wider training group.

She captained Opotiki College's sevens and 15s teams to Bay of Plenty under-18 titles and was selected in the New Zealand Condor sevens school team. Her goals in 2015 are to be named in the Black Ferns squad and to achieve a fitness tertiary qualification.

The award is made to an outstanding junior Maori boy or girl rugby player from Bay of Plenty who excels in rugby and academically. The presentation was made by Bryan Williams, former Maori All Black Ray Reardon and Dick Garratt from the Maori Sports Awards Trust.

"This is a chance to give a young Maori youth an opportunity to get this scholarship and follow the path of those like Pat Walsh, Albie Pryor, Waka Nathan and Mac Herewini, all those great Maori who were All Blacks and Maori All Blacks before," Garratt said.

"Bay of Plenty rugby helped with the nomination of Luka and we are hoping it will become an annual thing if the bowls are happy with it. There is a trophy that comes with the award that they won't keep. My nephew is preparing a base to recarve which will relate to this Peter Johnstone tournament and those former great Maori players that played in this tournament for years."