RUGBY: A Lion in Magpies' clothing

ANENDRA SINGH
Neatly stapled black-and-white rugby photographs adorn the garage walls of Tony Clark's Havelock North home. The yellow tinge coming through some of them is the unmistakable sign of aging but the actions of the rugby players speak volumes.
"This is my garage museum of rugby pictures," Clark tells SportToday, his eyes reflecting excitement from behind his spectacles.
The 73-year-old retired schoolteacher is a Wellington Lions supporter, having represented his former province from 1954 to 1960.
So I ask him the obvious question: "Are you going to support the Magpies on Saturday or are you sticking with the Lions?"
There's a momentary silence, his eyes watering up a little as he weighs his options like the centre/second five-eighths of the yesteryear.
However, there's a sense of decisiveness about his reply: "Look I'm a Magpie supporter, but not when they are playing Wellington."
Having played against Hawke's Bay at Wellington's Athletic Park twice, Clark was keen to get his hands on the Kelt Capital Magpies versus the Lions Air New Zealand Cup match on Saturday at McLean Park, Napier.
"I had to look after the grandchildren ," he says, aborting his plan to watch the game with his mate, Ray Apatu, who played rugby for Manawatu but now lives and farms at Pukehamoamoa.
"Ray was the Maori Farmer of the Year in 1973 or 74. He looked so good we thought he painted his sheep white," he says with a laugh.
Outlining that Saturday's historic victory had 30 handling errors and some what took the gloss off, Clark hails the Magpies: "Hawke's Bay (players and fans) should be very proud of themselves."
In the match against the Magpies in October 1956, Clark scored two tries in the capital side's 22-3 win. That same year he helped Wellington lift the Ranfurly Shield from Canterbury in the 8-0 victory. He also featured against the Bay in their 23-16 win two years later.
"All I remember that day was that a guy (he thinks Bernie Troy) from Hawke's Bay went over the goal line in the second half and I thought I might dive over his legs to stop him. But he scored the try and I cut my head and had to go have it stitched."
A Bay player called Harry (HC) Marret has also left a lasting impression, a centre/wing "who could run like a deer".
"Kel Tremain came up here by then so there was no easy lay. They were a team on the way up in those days. They had youth and experience, no doubt about that," says Clark, who was born in Motueka, Nelson.
His elder brother, Bill, moved to Wellington to attend Victoria University, representing the Lions from 1950 until his retirement in 1958.
Former All Black Bill Clark represented his country in 1951 when he toured Australia with New Zealand Universities, which he continued to represent until 1956. He was chosen for the 1953-54 All Black tour of Britain, France and North America. His 19 tour appearances included the four tests in the British Isles and he was regarded at the team's best loose forward.
A distinctive figure in his white headgear he had pace, a rugby brain and a talent for being in the right place at the right time.
His keen instincts saw him feed off the pinpoint centre kicks of longtime All Black winger Ron Jarden. Tony Clark followed in his brother's footsteps up to New Zealand Universities level (1955, 58 and 60) but the AB's jersey seemed elusive.
"I had a pretty good chance to make it because I was in a pretty good side but the selectors were blind and didn't pick me," says a jovial Clark, who moved to Wellington in 1953 to train as a primary teacher and played alongside many All Blacks, including Jim Fitzgerald and Brian (BBJ) Fitzpatrick, former AB skipper and hooker Sean's father. However, the late Ron Jarden, who died prematurely in his mid-forties, epitomises everything a sportsperson should be in Clark's eyes.
"A good part of my memory is with Jarden. "He had enormous thighs like tree trunks and was the 440-yard New Zealand champion and won the Wellington sprint title three or four times in the 25-yard race.
"On the rugby field he was five yards ahead and that took him past his opponent even before he could blink.
"The crowd would rise to their feet every time he got the ball just in expectation of him scoring a try. "It was a pleasure for me just to pass the ball to Ron and see him disappear," Clark recalls, saying Jarden was the kind of man who succeeded in everything he did in life. "He was also a golfer, sailor and stock broker. I could beat him at golf but not in sailing. He tried to get me out to seas but I was no sailor."
There's little doubt the Clarks have a sporting pedigree. Their father, John (JR) Clark, captained Golden Bay-Motueka and represented the South Island in 1926.
Tony Clark's daughter, Carmel, was a champion swimmer. Educated at Fernhill School, where Clark was principal for 13 years, and Hastings Girls' High and Havelock North schools, Carmel prospered under top Bay backstroke coach John Beaumont.
She held six national records and qualified for two finals - 100m and 200m - in the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
"It was a magic time for us, crowding around the TV to watching our daughter," he says of Carmel who now lives in Melbourne as Carmel Gardner.
She went on to represent New Zealand as a backstroker in the 1986 Edinburgh Games in Scotland in 1986. Her medals, trophies and certificates also have pride of place in Clark's garage.
Clark moved to the Bay in 1973 and after his Fernhill School stint he served as principal at Ebbett Park School, in Hastings, for six years before retiring in 1992. So did he ever think of going back to Wellington?
"Once you come over here it's milk and honey ... and wine," he says with a grin.
However, a Wellington Lions Old Timer's Day invite on his study table suggests the capital still beckons, albeit every rugby season.
"The union gives us a great day out and not only do we get to watch a game but they give us a scarf," says Clark, who will watch the Lions versus Tasman game on August 25 at Westpac Stadium.
It gave him immense satisfaction to watch the Magpies maul Southland in the opening Air NZ Cup match a fortnight ago. He fondly recalls the halcyon days when he played at Rugby Park in the 1950s.
"We used to be fed oysters at the Bluff Harbour Packing Shed and then found ourselves in ankle-deep mud in the park after that," Clark says.