Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle / Sport

Ngamatapouri set for second coming

By zaryd.wilson@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
Whanganui Chronicle·
6 Mar, 2015 08:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
FIELD OF DREAMS: Ngamatapouri RFC has been reformed and will compete in the senior grade of Wanganui Club Rugby this year. PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

FIELD OF DREAMS: Ngamatapouri RFC has been reformed and will compete in the senior grade of Wanganui Club Rugby this year. PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A fortnight today will be a big day for the farming area of Ngamatapouri.

Hidden up in the hills of the Waitotara Valley, a group led by Henry Matthews has been building a rugby club from scratch.

And in the afternoon of Saturday, March 21, Ngamatapouri RFC, decked out in a dark green jersey with boar logo, will run out on to its home-built home ground to play its first match against Celtic.

The club did exist in the 1960s but folded long ago. The new incarnation has entered in the senior grade (second tier) of the Wanganui club rugby competition.

Matthews had the idea to put the team together after an influx of younger workers to the area on the back of a growing manuka industry.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Local man Roger Pearce was given the coaching role and the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.

"Both Henry's father and my father played for the Ngamatapouri team in the '60s," Pearce said. "It's really Henry's brainchild."

The team has at least 20 at training and its recruitment has been impressive.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Boars have nabbed Wanganui rep Bryn Hudson, who played for Coastal in the Taranaki premier competition last year.

"That was a bit of a coup for us," Pearce said. "We've definitely got some good players, but there's a wide range of players - some guys have never played rugby."

The new field, carved out of land owned by David Peat, has been given the all clear by the Wanganui Rugby Union. It has been built by locals over the past few months. Next to it is an old homestead that will be used as changing rooms for teams, while showers are being built in the next fortnight. The Ngamatapouri Hall just down the road will be used for after-match functions.

The club has even got a bus that will clock up many kilometres on some of the longer away trips to the North Rangitikei clubs.

Pearce said a bit of recontouring of the ground was needed.

"We've sort of all got our own gear and machinery in the farming game up here these days," Pearce said. "The bit of land that's there, it was flattish but there was a bit of a swampy area."

When the club was active half a century ago it had no field of its own so "home" games were played in Wanganui.

A patch to call theirs was desired for the second coming of the club.

"It's really creating a community spirit up here and having something for the community to go along and enjoy and watch," Pearce said.

There was a lot of interest from former residents and he expected many others from the city to take a trip up the valley over winter to check out a game.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think a lot of people are intrigued about what's going on out here and whether we can make it a success," Pearce said. "This is a very small community - we've only got a dozen or so farms up here."

As to how the team will fare, it will be a matter of wait and see. Pearce said a semifinal berth was a good starting goal. "We want to be taken seriously."

Wanganui Rugby club liaison officer Paul Kenny said Ngamatapouri was a welcome addition to the club rugby scene.

"I went up there on Monday with a couple of other guys," he said. The facilitieslooked good and he would be interested to watch the club's development. "They've done some reasonably good recruiting," Kenny said. "They've done their homework and I'm sure they're going to be a fantastic host."

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Whanganui Chronicle

Coaching guru moves south to take role at Cricket Whanganui

Sport

Rugby: Tough preseason ahead for Steelform Whanganui

Sport

Rugby: Marist Clovers reclaim title with dominant win


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Coaching guru moves south to take role at Cricket Whanganui
Whanganui Chronicle

Coaching guru moves south to take role at Cricket Whanganui

There will not be much 'sitting in the office and looking at a screen'.

20 Jul 05:00 PM
Rugby: Tough preseason ahead for Steelform Whanganui
Sport

Rugby: Tough preseason ahead for Steelform Whanganui

17 Jul 05:00 PM
Rugby: Marist Clovers reclaim title with dominant win
Sport

Rugby: Marist Clovers reclaim title with dominant win

17 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP