The Wanganui and King Country Past Players pose together before kickoff at Te Kuiti.
The champions of yesteryear had another day in the sun in Te Kuiti on Saturday as the Wanganui Past Players hammered their King Country counterparts 46-5 in one of the curtain raiser games to the Heartland Championship match at Rugby Park.
While the home side had initially named 32 players for the festival match, compared to 23 for the visitors, typical last-minute withdrawals meant the numbers were reasonably even for the contest.
Wanganui started with fewer backs, with squad numbers weighted towards the forward pack with an abundance of props, as 49-year-old Guy Lennox had to play halfback and suffered a painful stomach injury in the opening minutes – only staying on after cat-calls from his team mates.
But truthfully, it was King Country who were outmatched for pace as Fijian test player Asaeli Tikoirotuma and the likewise still active Samu Kubunavanua and Aaron Paranihi held sway out wide – often just cruising half speed or giving more passes and opportunities to some of the more senior squad members.
Not required for the Steelform Wanganui team after being on injury standby for the bench, winger Simon Dibben also went for a two-thirds pace trot and may or may not have deliberately knocked the ball on when he dashed away untouched to the King Country posts.
Referee Jim Gibb likewise did his best to keep the home side in the festival match with a couple of interesting calls, not impressing some of the more instinctively competitive members of the Wanganui lineup.
One of them, prop Brett Turner, looked like he could still easily suit up for a 65 minute stint in the Pirates front row for Premier club rugby.
Steelie Koro's passing skills were as silky as ever, while prop Karl Parker was grinning after pulling off one big monster tackle, and his fellow Ruapehu brethren in Peter Rowe, Andrew Evans and Fraser Hammond dominated the loose forward exchanges in classic style.
Temoci Ului knew to stay in his lane out wide and was rewarded with the last pass to jog away to the corner for two tries.
Try of the game, although he didn't intend it to be, was from Danny Rolls, who was sent cantering towards the posts but got too quick for his own feet and fell over, having to live up to his surname by rolling back up and diving over on the second go.
After three of the planned four 20 minute quarters, King Country decided enough was enough and Wanganui were quite agreeable to resting aching limbs and getting a cold beer.
The younger speedy Wanganui backs set up the first try, after King Country's backline made the first of many fumbles, with Tikoirotuma roaming wide to Paranihi before getting a return pass, and although Logan Vaughan couldn't hang on to the next offload, Kubunavanua recovered it and put on the goose step to go score.
Kubunavanua returned a King Country clearance and outstripped the defenders, before falling in the last tackle and offloading to Turner to dash away, with the front rower then drop kicking the conversion from out wide.
Into the second quarter and Dibben ran through a big gap, finding Rowe in support, then from the ruck Wanganui spread it and Ului had a clear run in.
A series of penalties and 5m scrums had King Country in with a chance, and although Wanganui cleared the ball, the home side swiftly ran it back and then put it through the hands to score in the far corner for 17-5.
Although having fun, Wanganui still didn't come all this way to lose, and Dibben was soon through the defenders again and found Rowe in support, with the veteran flanker sprinting off for a rare try, then handing the goal kicking duties to his old mucker Evans.
King Country tried an attacking chip kick, but Wanganui saved it and then Lennox fired the long ball to Tikoirotuma, who fed Kubunavanua for a chip kick of his own and regathered it with no-one near him to run in his double.
Entering the third quarter and Wanganui got a turnover for Pehira Huwyler to set Rolls off for his unintentionally hilarious five-pointer, and then the Wanganui forwards dealt short passes amongst themselves to set up Paranihi beating his tacklers and scoring, with David Gower taking the extras.
Tikoirotuma, Kubunavanua, Rolls and the forwards then starting throwing wild passes in every direction, which ultimately led to Ului getting the ball out wide to jog in for his double just before three quarter time, and an early end to the match.
Wanganui 46 (Samu Kubunavanua 2, Temoci Ului 2, Brett Turner, Peter Rowe, Danny Rolls, Aaron Paranihi tries; Turner con, Andrew Evans con, David Gower con) bt King Country 5.