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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Rugby: Hurricanes blow away Bay fan

By Anendra Singh
Hawkes Bay Today·
31 Mar, 2014 04:00 PM5 mins to read

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So you think you're a Hurricanes fan, do you?

Well, that's because you obviously haven't heard of Gail Davies.

The ardent spectator from Waipukurau has been to every Super Rugby match at the Westpac Stadium of the capital city-based franchise, bar one, since its inception in 1996.

"I missed one game nine years ago because I had broken my tail bone and had it removed so I couldn't sit down," says Davies, who celebrated her 50th birthday last Wednesday in a way only a true fan can.

She ordered birthday cards with a Hurricane flavour from a pharmacy at the Central Hawke's Bay town and her niece, Lauren Ewen, who is studying at Massey University in Wellington, baked a cake with a photo of Davies with her favourite player and Hurricanes skipper, Conrad Smith. Cake Stuff in Hastings provided the decorative icing.

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"I had a photo taken of me and Conrad at Mangatainoka four years ago," says the training co-ordinator at Silver Ferns Farms at Takapau.

But the "icing-on-the-cake" moment came about 4.30pm that day although there was a fairly good chance of her "blowing it".

Unbeknown to Davies, her twin sister, Kay Lovett, of Auckland, had emailed the Wellington franchise, asking if Smith could phone Davies to spruce up their birthday. Here are excerpts of the 10-minute older twin's impassioned request to the Wellington franchise:

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"I am not really an ideas person and I am sure you get requests all the time from fans.

But I wondered if there was something - I have no idea what - that you could do for her half century.

Pretty vague, I know, but she is an amazing person as well and I love her times a trillion, maybe even as much as she loves the Hurricanes.

I know she would think I am the best twiny in the world if you did. Maybe I would even be her fav twin sister :)

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Thanks if you can think of anything, and thanks if you can't as well, she'll still be a fan!"

Davies' 16-year-old daughter, Georgia, answered the phone call from the 33-year-old Hurricanes centre.

"I said to Geo, 'Tell them I'll ring them back', but she insisted I take it so I did in the end," says Davies, who also is mother of former New Zealand A women's cricketer, Aroha Northover.

Her first impression was that it was some sassy acquaintance doing an unconvincing impersonation of the former All Black but the penny eventually dropped.

"I then realised it was him. He asked me some real nice things like what I was doing for my birthday and all those other questions in general and hoped I was having a lovely night.

"Three to four minutes is a long time for a chat," she says with a grin.

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Davies suspects her brother-in-law, Tim Ewen, also contacted the franchise.

Part of Lovett's thank-you email to the franchise after the call went like this:

"How cool is that. It made her day, really really made her day.

Thank you, and thank Conrad so much!

You guys rock!

PS: I am now officially her fav twiny."

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The Hurricanes catchment area embraces the Hawke's Bay, East Coast, Horowhenua-Kapiti, Manawatu, Poverty Bay, Wairarapa-Bush, Wanganui and Wellington rugby unions.

They also stage the Canes' home matches in cities outside of Wellington.

This Saturday the Canes will host South African franchise Bulls at McLean Park, Napier, in a 7.35pm kick off.

The last time the two sides met in Napier was on April 2, 2011, the inaugural season of the 15-team competition which evolved from Super 12.

The Canes lost that match 26-14 under Mark Hammett in his first season at the helm as coach.

For the record, Davies had surprised her sister by sending her return flight tickets to Napier the next day because the twin couldn't make the party in Waipukurau.

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"She [Lovett] flew in at 11 and went back at four but we had lunch together so we had a great time together."

Davies watched the game in Napier in 2011 and has travelled to Palmerston North and Hamilton to back the boys.

In fact, she succeeds in rubbing some people the wrong way when she tells them the Hurricanes come before social invites.

"One of my friends did a 60th birthday last year but I declined and he reminded me about it just the other night."

So exactly where does her husband, Brent Davies, fit into all of this?

"He loves it as much as I do. I get into it. I paint my face and all but Brent won't let me do his.

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"He thinks I'm more vocal so he just sits there and watches it quietly," she says of the Waipukurau joiner who is part of the two-person fan stand who also have watched the All Blacks throughout the country and overseas.

They have four AB trips planned this year - Wellington, Auckland, Sydney and Hamilton.

"It's our time and we enjoy it together.

"Some people play sport but we watch rugby so that's our chill-out time," she says, labelling Wellington "a cool place".

In the capital, they frequent The Green Man bar, which the Hurricanes patronise during aftermatch functions.

They have met some wonderful people such as Andre Taylor's mum who invited them to say hello if they are passing through Ashhurst.

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So how long will the couple occupy their happy place - aisle 22, row G, seats 105-106?

"Another 10 years at least. As long as we're kicking.

"We might just not drink as much as we do now," Davies says with a laugh.

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