King Country midfielder Alex Thrupp and his team-mates endured a hellish 2021 - but have now launched a mission to celebrate the union's centenary in style. Photo / NZME
One of New Zealand's proudest rugby unions started its centenary season ranked the lowest province in the country. Neil Reid reports how old-school pride and values are inspiring King Country to hit back from a nightmarish 2021.
Last year's Heartland Championship end-of-season points table made for grim reading for King Country players and supporters.
Played eight, lost eight, a points difference deficit of a whopping –254, and just a sole bonus point for their efforts.
The poor string of results - including enduring four losses where opposition cracked the 50-point mark - consigned them to last place on the Heartland Championship ladder.
But scratch a little deeper and you'll find the fact that King Country lined up in last year's competition at all was a champion effort in itself.
The union didn't only have provincial rivals to battle, it was also hugely impacted by the August outbreak of Covid-19's Delta variant.
That included not having the services of players from Te Kuiti, Otorohanga and Piopio - traditionally some of the union's rugby strongholds - for a large chunk of the season as those areas had Covid Alert Level 3 restrictions on them as Delta spread through Waikato.
"Mate, it was tough last year... to be honest with you," King Country Rugby Union (KCRU) general manager Kurt McQuilkin told the Herald.
"Coming up to halfway into the Heartland comp we lost the north King Country... they were all out of [contention]. We basically played in the second half of the comp with a south King Country selection."
Given the large number of players taken out of contention by the Covid-19 restrictions, you couldn't have blamed KCRU had they decided to withdraw what was left of their top squad from the Heartland Championship.
But McQuilkin said that was never an option.
"We were determined to put out a side so that it wouldn't affect the competition," he said. "No team wants byes... so we wanted to put a side out and do as good as we could."
Due to defections brought on by the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions during the season, more than 50 players were involved in the squad.
Recruits who answered the many selection crisis calls included veteran lock Aarin Dunster. The 43-year-old retired from rep rugby in 2017 after playing 109 matches for the Rams.
His comeback saw him line up alongside his 21-year-old son Cruise and 19-year-old nephew Maximus.
"Not too many fathers have played alongside their son and nephew in a representative side," McQuilkin said. "He is in quite an elite company."
All Blacks captain Sam Cane also made up that large pool of players, making his return from injury with the Rams as a guest player.
The Covid-19 restrictions won't be something holding King Country back in 2022.
But like other provinces - and not just those in the Heartland Championship - they have endured a club season where some clubs have been struggling to retain numbers for competitive sides.
What happened in 2021 had also impacted recruitment into the area, McQuilkin said.
"Obviously, results-wise, [with the Heartland team] it is hard to attract players when you are the 26th team out of 26 provinces," he said.
"But it is something you can't sit around and worry too much about and smack your head against walls. You have to set yourself goals and strive for those goals."
Driving on the team were those supporters who stayed loyal through the tough times, as well as the union and its players calling on King Country's rich history - which includes being the home of eight All Blacks, including brothers Sir Colin Meads and Stan Meads - for motivation in their centenary year.
"We are never going to be a Division One old NPC side again, but we want to be the best we can be in the Heartland Championship," McQuilkin said.
"We are pushing ourselves forward both on and off the field to be the best union we can.
"There have been some pretty massive individuals who have led this union in the past, including the Meads brothers. We know that we have standards that we need to uphold.
"We had a tough old season last year, and there are plenty of knockers waiting to have a crack at you. But that is when you find out who your true supporters are too. There are still a lot of people pushing and pumping for King Country, and we will do our best to get ourselves up the ladder."
In the opening round of the 2022 Heartland Championship, the side savoured something missing from the previous year: a win.
The team kicked off their campaign last weekend with a 30-22 win over Poverty Bay.
It was a strong start to the season, which McQuilkin described as a "massive" year for rugby in the King Country as it celebrates 100 years of existence.
A weekend of celebration had been set down for April.
But at the time New Zealand was still in the red Covid-19 traffic light setting - which included restrictions over the sizes of indoor gatherings - and the full celebrations have been put back to 2023.
"It is great [for the union to reach 100]," McQuilkin said. "We have put out a centenary jersey with all of the names of the people who have played for the union, with their cap numbers beside them.
"And this year being our centenary year, we are going to play in the old maroon and gold hoop jerseys and the maroon and gold hoop socks. It is a bit of a tip of the cap to the players who have gone before.
"I am a bit of a traditionalist and I love the old hooped jersey... it looks deadly."
McQuilkin is one of King Country's favourite rugby sons. He played 52 games for the Rams, as well as a further 33 rep games for Northland.
His rugby travels took him to Ireland in the 1990s, where he went on to play test rugby for the Irish national team. He also had a successful coaching career in Ireland before returning to New Zealand in 2016.
McQuilkin said he was "honoured... to be brutally honest" to now be able to work in the front office of the province that he had given so much to him during his playing days.
"Is it challenging? Most definitely. Am I out of my comfort zone? Most definitely," he said.
"Coming from a playing/coaching side into this administration side is a hell of a change. But I am enjoying it and learning new skills every day. Being able to do that in your home province is something special.
"I want to do this for as long as I can and then hopefully when I hand it over the union will be in a better place than when I came in."
The player judged the Heartland Championship's best will receive a new award named in honour of one of the greatest to come from a grassroots province.
The Ian Kirkpatrick Medal will be presented for the first time at the end of the 2022 rep season.
It is the latest award played for by Heartland unions after the Meads Cup, Lochore Cup and the Bill Osborne Taonga, all named after legends of the game who gave so much to some of New Zealand's smallest provincial unions.
"It is a bit humbling really," Gisborne-based Kirkpatrick told the Herald.
"It is good that they have those kind of awards so the guys [in the Heartland Championship] have something to aim for... it gives them some sort of incentive to try and be 100 per cent every time."
Kirkpatrick is a legend of Poverty Bay and New Zealand rugby.
He made the All Blacks while representing Canterbury - where he had moved in a bid to further his farming career - in 1969, before returning to Poverty Bay the following year.
Kirkpatrick went on to play 113 matches for the All Blacks, including 39 tests. He also played rep rugby for Poverty Bay until 1979.
The 76-year-old is a staunch advocate for the Heartland Championship, saying the bottom-tier provincial rugby competition remained a "big thing" for the teams involved.
"And it is certainly important for the local communities," he said.
"It is for the communities to look forward to a Saturday and get out and support their team, socially make it an afternoon that their community can be a part of."
The Bill Osborne Taonga was first played for in last year's Heartland Championship's fifth-sixth playoff match, won by Poverty Bay.
It will now be up for grabs on a challenge basis like the Ranfurly Shield, where the holders have to put it on the line for home games.
New Zealand Rugby's (NZR) general manager community rugby Steve Lancaster said when announcing the new trophies last year: "Bill and Ian have so much respect and mana among our Heartland provinces, and we are grateful they have accepted the honour of lending their names to these two special additions to our game.
"We believe the Bill Osborne Taonga will hold a special place amongst the Heartland Championship teams and will be challenged for and defended with the same passion as we have seen with the Ranfurly Shield for such a long time."
Osborne debuted for Wanganui just four days after his 18th birthday.
He was an All Black within two years, going on to play 48 matches for the national team including 16 tests.
He is also a former NZR president.