At home on the Coast

REID RETURNING: Pirates have signed former Poverty Bay and Ngati Porou East Coast lock Everard Reid, who has been playing in Hawke’s Bay. He will not, however, be in the Bay squad for their Queen’s Birthday Weekend derby in Ruatoria on Saturday. Picture by Paul Rickard

HAVING played 69 games at lock for Poverty Bay, Wayne Ensor is no stranger to local derbies.

But on Saturday he will be up against his old province as co-coach of Ngati Porou East Coast for their Queen’s Birthday Weekend clash with the Bay at Ruatoria’s Whakarua Park.

He’s not feeling any mixed loyalty, though, over wearing the sky blue colours of the Coast.

“It just feels like the right place to be,” said Ensor, who, while spilling blood in the scarlet jersey over many seasons, has strong Coast roots.

“My grandfather Arthur ‘Toot’ Lincoln captained the Coast in 1947. I’ve got a lot of extended family on the Coast and spend the majority of my summers there.

“When my brother (Stu) and I played for the Bay against the Coast, people often told us we were playing for the wrong team.

“In some ways it’s like coming home and I’m tremendously proud of being co-coach of the Coast (alongside Troy Para).

“Troy and I know it’s going to be a challenge after last season (the Coast finished bottom and failed to win a game) and representative rugby is a big step up from club rugby.

Home advantage“One of our goals is to get the players to use the home advantage to lift their games, starting this weekend.

“The supporters at Whakarua Park are a lot closer to the action than at other grounds and if we can give them something to shout about they’ll get behind us.”

So how did a staunch Poverty Bay/High School Old Boys/Gisborne Boys’ High School forward get to team up with the equally Coast/ YMP/Hikurangi/Lytton High School halfback Para?

“We were on a coaching course in Wellington last year when Wayne mentioned he would love to coach at Heartland level,” Para said.

“I asked him if he would be interested in putting his name forward with me to coach the Coast.

“I was so impressed with his rugby knowledge, his humility and his down-to-earth attitude that I told him if he would come on board I would definitely apply for the position.

“I suppose you could say we’re an odd couple; coming from different backgrounds and never having played for the same teams.

“I left the Bay to play in Wairarapa when Wayne was just coming into the Bay side. Then there’s the fact that he’s six-foot-three and I’m five-foot-something. But it’s been great working alongside him. He’s got a great work ethic when it comes to coaching. Not only does he train HSOB on Tuesday and Thursday, he attends our training sessions on Wednesday and Sunday.

“He may have played for the Bay but he’s totally committed to the Coast. Wayne’s in charge of the forwards and the defence and I take the backs and the attack side of things.”

Nervous but excitedEnsor said he was nervous but excited about Saturday.

“I’ve been looking forward to this game ever since I was appointed. Now that it’s only a few days away, I can’t wait.”

Para/Ensor and Bay counterpart Mutu Ngarimu, won’t name their teams until Thursday night but one player definitely not playing for the Bay will be lock Everard Reid.

Reid, who won a Meads Cup winners’ medal with the Coast in 2012 then helped the Bay to a Meads Cup semifinal spot in 2014, has signed for Kevin Hollis Glass Pirates from Hawke’s Bay club side MAC.

He was to make his debut for Pirates at the weekend but is serving a two-game suspension after being sent off in his last game for MAC.

“Everard’s been part of our set-up before and he’ll be a huge asset to us, but this weekend is about rewarding the players who fronted up against the powerful New Zealand Universities team earlier this month,” Ngarimu said.

Poverty Bay were well beaten but Mutu was impressed with the players’ never-say-die attitude.

“I could bring in loan players for this weekend but the guys who played that night deserve another opportunity.

“They drew a line in the sand. Now they need to show me they can rise to the challenge of taking on a Coast team in Ruatoria.”