It was the time of All Blacks Ian Kirkpatrick, Mike Parkinson and Laurie Knight, Junior All Blacks George and Robbie Newlands and Phil Duncan, and the mighty Old Boys forward pack.
Peter Clay was halfback behind that Old Boys pack, whose reputation was cemented by five Lee Bros Shield wins in a row, from 1977 to ’81.
Young was halfback for High School Old Boys. His only Lee Bros Shield success was in 1972, playing against Clay.
Both made Poverty Bay representative squads but their chances were limited by the presence of Marist’s Junior All Black halfback Duncan.
Clay got rep game time in 1972 and ’73 but Young missed out, injuries intervening when he might have had a chance of a start.
Young says Clay had an armchair ride behind the best forward pack seen in Poverty Bay club rugby, and Clay’s not arguing.
On the bowling green, nearly 50 years after their rugby battles, they were picked for the reps again, and this time they both played.
On Sunday, they were part of the Gisborne-East Coast defence of the Waioeka Shield for junior bowlers, playing a pair drawn from Rotorua and Tauranga.
Just before “kick-off”, Young said to Clay: “We’ll play this in Old Boys winning style.”
When the bell signalled time was up, Young and Clay led 20-6.
“We made history,” Young said.
“Old Boys and High School Old Boys, united . . . something never heard of back in the day.”
• The bowls fixture between Bay of Plenty and Gisborne-East Coast was not completed. It was washed out in the first round.
Centre events start with the mixed pairs next weekend.
