Tonight Hawke's Bay will defend the shield against Otago at Napier's McLean Park, and Boswell-Wakefield said his thoughts would be with his "No1 fan", who was among Hawke's Bay's supporters who cheered the team on to their Ranfurly Shield victory on August 30. Moments after the win Boswell-Wakefield was photographed with his mum and halfback Chris Eaton - whose wife Hannah died in a car accident in April last year - with the shield. "When I picture that moment, all I can see is my mum's big smiley face and me walking up to her," he told the Herald on Sunday.
"We were pretty close. She was one of my best friends and just an amazing woman. She was my number one fan and would always be at my games."
The team flew back to Napier from Auckland after the game to share the victory with their fans and sponsors over a few beers.
"We were extremely happy. It was sort of overwhelming because Counties was the team that took it off us when we first got it last year," said Boswell-Wakefield.
That triumphant feeling had lasted until the afternoon of September 1 when his mum went for a walk with the family dog. A member of the public found the 55-year-old lying by the railway tracks that run along the field to the back of the family's property.
"There were lots of mixed emotions, sort of being up on a high from winning and then losing Mum. It was pretty devastating. She probably took that route every single day," Boswell-Wakefield said.
He said he, sister Eden and their father Kereopa Wakefield were still in the dark about what happened. "We haven't looked into that at the moment. We've just been doing everything around the situation and haven't been to the police to investigate more, but I'm sure that will come later.
"We're still very devastated and a little bit lost but we're getting things done."
He took a week out from playing and practising with the Magpies. When the team took on Northland on the day of his mother's funeral, they all wore black armbands in memory of one of their biggest supporters. "The guys who didn't have to play came to the funeral and they did a haka for me. The support from the team was unreal and I appreciate it beyond measure," he said.
He started back at training last week but there has already been "lots of talk" among his family about holding on to the shield and how he can help his team do it. "It would be more meaningful to retain the shield now," he said.
