Rugby: AB coach's Wairoa trip fuels pupils' passion

Steve Hansen works on the basics with Wairoa College first XV players. Photo / Warren Buckland

Tickets to All Blacks versus Georgia game: From 60 pounds.

Trip to Europe to play footy and learn about their Maori lineage: $260,000.

Luring the world's two-time champion rugby coach, All Black Steve Hansen, to your backyard: "Ah, priceless."

Well, that's exactly what the Wairoa College First XV boys' team and school rugby academy disciples did on their school grounds for half an hour from 3pm yesterday.

Hansen went through some basic drills with the teenagers before engaging in a whiteboard session to impress the importance of having the right mindset to attain goals in an enjoyable learning environment.

"It's just awesome. The boys are fizzying. They just feel like the All Blacks today," said Wairoa deputy mayor Denise Eaglesome-Karekare who, through Napier entrepreneur Terry Elmsly, was instrumental in making the Hansen dream come true for the schoolboys.

Mosgiel-born Hansen said he was a product of a rural community in the early stages of his life so he understood what a special day it was for the players and their supporters.

"For me I really enjoyed it [because] the kids are really passionate about what they are doing and are as good as they can be so you can't ask for anything more than that," said the 56-year-old who went on to play 21 matches for the Canterbury provincial side before coaching them to numerous NPC titles.

While he intended to watch the Wairoa team's progress he often made it a habit to watch all school rugby on TV.

Hansen with Denise Eaglesome-Karekare and Terry Elmsly. Photo / Warren Buckland

"I used to be a first XV player myself years ago and it's some of the best rugby you could possibly be involved in because it's really competitive so I'll keep my eye on them."

Hansen said while numerous identities could visit schools to inspire pupils the biggest influence on children's lives were the youngsters themselves.

"What's their mind set going to be? What do they want to do and what they want to achieve and then having the mind set to go on to do it," he said.

With the debate on how the pivots are going in Super Rugby for the All Blacks' equation, Hansen did not want to be drawn into sharing his observations except to say all would be revealed on May 29.

"It's cold. I was told Wairoa's a warm place," he said with a laugh when asked if he wanted to say anything else.

Elmsly, managing director of EuroCity in Napier, had had a rapport with Wairoa spanning 23 years in his commercial pursuits before selling up to establish his existing business.

"I've got a very long memory so it's my opportunity to give something back to those people," he said.

Asked how long Elmsly knew Hansen, he replied: "We've been mates for a very long time through a generation of family connections and we drink a lot of red wine together."

Before the Rugby World Cup last year, the businessman one night was watching a Seven Sharp item attempting to help raise money for Wairoa College.

"I said to my wife, 'Hey, it's on our doorstep so I'm going to give some money to these kids who are prepared to work hard for something they want', so I did.

"It ended up on a social media site and Denise [Eaglesome-Kerekere] is part of this school so she contacted me and through the course of the conversation said she'd love to have an All Black or someone of notoriety here and I said well, you may not realise it but Steve Hansen's a good mate."

However, after the ABs won the World Cup late last year Elmsly struggled to lure Hansen before Christmas because of the coach's hectic schedule.

"About four weeks ago I rang him and said what about that promise and he said bring me up so ..."

Asked how challenging it was to entice Hansen, a grinning Elmsly replied: "Not that hard. Just a few bottles of expensive red wine, so it was easy."

He felt it was a great opportunity for Wairoa to meet someone of Hansen's stature.

"Look, at the end of the day he's a global superstar so people in small communities don't get that opportunity that often," he said, emphasising Hansen-type visits offered people the ideal reinforcement to succeed in life.

Eaglesome-Karekare said she had contacted Elmsly because of their long association.

"I was a client of Terry's and bought cars from him at Bay Ford so it went from there."

Wairoa youth co-ordinator Eaglesome-Karekare, who also manages the school's first XV and rugby academy, recalled it was an amusing conversation that led to the memorable $260,000 trip for the first XV team.

"He said to me, "There's something you don't know about me', and I said, 'There's probably a lot of things I don't know about you, Terry'," she said with a laugh.

Unbeknownst to her, of course, was Elmsly's kinship with Hansen.

"He said they were great mates and I said, 'Oh my God, we're going over there so is there some way you can get him or some of the boys to come to our games?'," she said but Elmsly had then said it was unlikely to happen although he would look into it.

"He's a man of his word," she said although confessing she had harassed him after the World Cup victory.

The school sold raffle tickets, made firewood deliveries, catered, held garage sales and sold pupils services, among other things, to help raise funds.

It raised $240,000 and the Seven Sharp exposure yielded the balance from donations around the country.

What Eaglesome-Karekare intended to show the youngsters was they didn't need to switch to other schools to be recognised in sport.

"If we work our buns off and know the right people, we can bring them here," she said.