Rugby: Lock thrives in NOBM Spillane glory

Tremendous Roll: The Napier Old Boys Marist rugby team which won the Spillane Cup tournament in Palmerston North at the weekend. Photo/Supplied

Tom Bywater watched his wife Carla during the early stages of her Triple Peaks Challenge race before joining his Napier Old Boys Marist rugby teammates on a bus trip to the Spillane Cup tournament in Palmerston North at the weekend.

Carla later phoned her hubby to tell him she had won. It was a memorable comeback for Carla, the 2015 winner of the Hawke's Bay adventure race, who missed last year's edition because she was out of action for six months after a cycle crash.

"She was definitely an inspiration for me. The rest of the boys congratulated Carla too because she used to be our team physio," lock Bywater explained.

That inspiration proved to b the right fuel for 28-year-old Bywater. He won the Frank Oliver Man of Steel Award for the player-of-the-match in the final after Hawke's Bay Insurance Brokers NOBM beat Marist St Pats of Wellington 22-3 on Sunday to complete a New Zealand Marist 15s and 7s double for the year as they won the 7s title in Wellington in January.

"It was the first time the award had been presented [former All Black Oliver died in 2014] and it was quite an honour to have it presented by one of Frank's sons and grandsons," Bywater recalled yesterday.

Bywater's NOBM coach Craig Gowler believed former Otago rugby league frontrower Bywater was playing well enough to crack the Magpies squad later in the year. But Bywater refused to look that far into the season.

"I'm just putting my club rugby first at the moment. We've got a tight-knit group and this is my focus," Bywater said.

"I was quite chuffed Tom got the award because I used to be coached by Frank when I played for the Manawatu Turbos," Gowler said.

Gowler was surprised Bywater missed selection in the tournament team. In-form fullback and one of the fastest in the NOBM side which tasted Spillane Cup glory for the first time since 2007, Liam Edwards, and former Magpies No 8 Joe Penitito were the only NOBM players to make the tournament team and Gowler tipped both of them to gain Magpies selection this season.

Prop Jarvy Aoake and flanker Willy Benson led the drive as the NOBM forwards outplayed their bigger opponents in the final.

Gowler's troops beat Palmerston North Old Boys Marist 30-24 in their first game of the tournament on Saturday. Gowler said it was a tight encounter which saw both teams play some positive rugby in extremely wet conditions.

"Those 50-50 passes and dropped balls which didn't stick early on stuck for us later in the game and we scored a couple of late tries which gave us the win. We were up against a much bigger team in the final and our guys showed a lot of character," Gowler said.

NOBM stalwarts believed there is almost as much talent and depth within this season's squad as the 2002 team which completed the Spillane Cup, Nash Cup and Maddison Trophy triple. Some of the more cautious within the club have suggested the 2016 Nash and Maddison winners may be peaking too early.

"It would be nice to match that 2002 triple. But I'm just enjoying the ride with a good bunch of lads who are enjoying their footy ... only time will tell if we have peaked too early. I believe we are at a similar level to what we were at this stage last year," Gowler said.

The team spirit certainly can't be faulted. At least eight of the squad shaved their hair off in response to a challenge from tournament organisers for players to support Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand's Shave for a Cure fundraising campaign.

Jovial club chairman Terry Gittings was last night on the hunt for a builder because the club's trophy cabinet needed extending.