ABs game on dad’s bucket list, check,‘They adore the All Blacks’

THUMBS UP: Boy Kemp (left) and his sons Michael and Daiminn Kemp, in Japan, at the Rugby World Cup. They had tickets to the All Blacks-Canada game which was played in Oita, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. The All Blacks won the game 63-0. Picture supplied

Daiminn Kemp has endured more ups and downs in the past year than many could expect in a lifetime.

His father, Padudi Tawehi, more commonly known as Boy Kemp, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in the middle of September and told he had three to four years to live.

Not long after the diagnosis, on October 10, doctors revised their first estimate and said he had only 18 months left.

That all happened around the one-year anniversary of the death of Daiminn’s daughter, Shannon Rangihuna-Kemp, in an accident at the Gisborne port.

“All at once was a bit of a kick in the guts. She was the oldest mokopuna for my mum and dad.

“Within two days of my dad finding out about his time left he said he wanted to make a bucket list.

On that list was getting to Japan to watch the All Blacks at the Rugby World Cup (RWC).

Daiminn said the expense to make his father’s dream become a reality was not within his means, but something happened the next day that he could not believe.

“The day after finding out about Dad’s diagnosis I walked into work and (colleague) Luke Bradley looked at me. He had no idea about my dad’s news, and he said ‘bro I’ve got some tickets to the All Blacks-Canada game, do you know anyone who wants them?’”

“I looked at him and said, ‘what did you say?’ I was in disbelief. I said, ‘are they free? Are you sure?’ And then I said ‘I’ll have them’. What a start to the day,” he said.

Daiminn and Luke work at Turanga Health as kaiawhina.

But Luke also runs a sports management agency, and has had a large involvement with the RWC. He sourced premium tickets from a close friend, Mairi Wallace.

So it was that on September 29 Daiminn, his younger brother Michael Kemp and their father flew to Auckland, Hong Kong and then to Japan to tick that ABs game off the bucket list.

“First of all we heard there was a typhoon coming, but because of the rugby atmosphere you couldn’t really notice it.

“I was just blown away by Japan and their adoration for the All Blacks,” Daiminn said.

The three of them ran into encounter after unexplainable encounter in Japan before their return on October 7.

They had an interview with Radio NZ, stayed next to the family of Canadian hooker, Andrew Quattrin, ran into deputy principal of Gisborne Intermediate Brendan Hart and met Wallaby greats George Gregan and Tim Horan.

Not to mention getting a shout out from Scotty Stevenson, Spark Sport’s broadcaster for the RWC, giving their trip an “extra bonus”.

“I told Scotty about why we were there and he introduced himself to Dad. Dad broke down and then Scotty had a bit of a tear in his eye, and then everyone was kind of looking into the air.

“We met the Canadian open side flanker’s mum and lots of AB fans. Before the game we also met Atu (Atunaisa) Moli’s mum and dad — the mum only came and said hi because my brother was wearing a YMP shirt. Atu was born and bred in Gisborne and his dad played for HSOB.”

Daiminn said right from the start Japanese people were always asking for a haka.

“It’s ka mate, ka mate, when they see us wearing the All Blacks jersey.”

The three went to a meet and greet with the All Blacks at Beacon Plaza in Oita two days before the match.

“It was a chance for the locals to meet the ABs. The first 2000 people there got in for free, and when we got there two hours before the ABs, the line was already nearly 1000 people long.

“Because we were wearing All Black supporter jerseys we got ushered to the front. They were quite determined we were going to get in first, they rushed us to the front.”

He said almost every Japanese child there was wearing ABs jerseys and the red carpet was rolled out for the players as they were announced one by one for the crowd.

“The way they announced them, red carpet, lights, blackout wall, compared to when they came to Gisborne’s Rugby Park — I was 100 percent blown away at how much they adore the All Blacks.

“They had Six60 and a kapa haka group from Rotorua. We also practised the national anthem with the Japanese about five times because they wanted to get it right. Both Maori and English versions.”

While in Japan they ate a lot of raw meats and rice, something Daiminn said took a while getting used to.

It was Daiminn’s first overseas trip and he said he was glad it was to Japan.

Now home and making the most of his time with his 72-year-old father, Daiminn said comments from workmates kept flooding in about how they had heard the three on radio and had seen them on TV.

The next big thing on Boy Kemp’s bucket list is a train ride down the South Island and back again, to “soak up all the sights”.