Two well-known and respected former All Blacks, Colin "Pinetree" Meads and Hallard (Snow) White, will help ensure Te Kopuru's Southern Rugby Club celebrates its 125th anniversary in style over Queen's Birthday weekend.
Meads, who played 55 tests in the 1960s and 1970s, is the guest speaker at the club's reunion dinner on May 30.
"As well as being voted the most legendary All Black of the millennium in 2000, Colin Meads is a strong advocate of grass-roots rugby as the foundation of New Zealand Rugby," said club president Michael Marinkovich.
Prop Snow White played for the All Blacks in the 1950s and turned out for Auckland almost 200 times. His association with Southern began with game exchanges between the Northcote Club, of which he was a member from the 1950s to the mid 1980s, and the Te Kopuru Club, 12km southwest of Dargaville.
For a small rural club, Southern has an impressive player history, producing three All Blacks from its ranks. Ian Dunn, Eddie Dunn and Mark Taylor all gained their black jerseys after working their way up through Southern grades.
The club's golden years started in 1970 and continued through to the late 1980s, with notable successes including winning the Cock of the North in 1970 and the inaugural Black Heart Northland Wide Knockout Competition in 1982. Southern topped the Northern Wairoa competition 14 times between 1970 and 1990.
The club is Northern Wairoa's oldest rugby club, playing its first game in April 1884, the team captained by Tom Fernadez. In those days teams travelled to their games by river.
"It is one of the few, or possibly the only, club in New Zealand to purchase their own rugby grounds which it did for 200 in 1947," said Mr Marinkovich.
The clubrooms opened in 1963 and were extended in 1971, with the Northern Wairoa's first squash courts added in 1976 and further extensions opened in July 1979.
"One hundred and twenty five years is a milestone any club would be proud of and we want to celebrate it in style," he said.
"We are exceptionally lucky to have Colin Meads who is a very good after-dinner speaker, always adding humour along with excerpts from his illustrious past."
The reunion begins on May 29, with registration and a Tipple and Talk. Saturday's programme includes Southern playing a home game against Ruawai, which celebrates its centenary at Labour Weekend. Sunday is for a relaxed catch-up and chat.
• Registration costs $25, the Tipple and Talk is $25 and Saturday's reunion dinner is $50. Registration forms and more details are available from Michael Marinkovich (marinkovich@farmside.co.nz) or Carol (carol-ann@xtra.co.nz).
Southern celebrates with All Blacks style
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