Mighty greens bring rugby's Barry Cup home to Wairoa

Paoraian Manuel-Harman, a star last Sunday of Wairoa's first Barry Cup win in more than 14 years, pictured playing for Napier Pirates in Hawke's Bay club rugby last year. Photo / NZME

Wairoa rugby is making a sudden resurgence with the mighty greens now set to defend a century-old piece of revered silverware the town hasn't seen for more than 14 years.

The Wairoa sub-union side, more or less first time all together, last Sunday travelled 115km to Te Karaka 30km northwest of Gisborne, to challenge Poverty Bay side Waikohu for the Barry Cup, a Ranfurly Shield of rural rugby and a symbol of Northern Hawke's Bay, Poverty Bay and East Coast sub-union supremacy since it was first presented, in Wairoa, in 1923.

They succeeded, winning 20-15 and after a tough week, weathering Waikohu's protest against the result, the first defence in Wairoa since a short reign in 2007-08 will be played against East Coast side Uawa at Lambton Square on Sunday, starting at 2.45pm.

Wairoa has its name on the cup just 13 times. Only the holder at the end of a season gets its name on the list, and Wairoa have usually had the last challenge each season, said stalwart and sub-union chairman Toby Taylor.

"It's a big game, we're expecting a big crowd," he said. "What does it mean to Wairoa? This means as much to Wairoa as the Ranfurly Shield means to Hawke's Bay. It means an awful lot."

He takes some of the expectation from Wednesday's sub-union meeting, which included delegates from the four remaining Wairoa clubs in the Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay competitions – of them Nuhaka and Tapuae being two of the oldest clubs in New Zealand.

"It was the biggest sub-union meeting we've had in decades," he said. "I had a grin from ear to ear."

But more was to come, for a team that hadn't managed to have a single squad run before the challenge had, he said, about 30 players at training this week.

Some of the culture may have been set by some of the furthest travelled, for, with many clubs in sub-unions now a thing of the past, the teams are allowed to field players of origin – players originally from their district but now registered and playing elsewhere.

There were four Hawke's Bay premier club players originally from Wairoa, in former Poverty Bay representative Paoraian Manuel-Harman, from Napier Old Boys Marist but also a Napier Pirates player last year, Xavier McCorkindale, from Napier Tech OB, Hugh Taylor (Toby Taylor's son), from Napier Pirates, and Jordan Biddle, who played for Taradale.

Two travelled over 400km from Palmerston North after playing for Hawke's Bay development side the Saracens against Manawatu Evergreens on Saturday, Manuel-Harman celebrating the effort with 10 of the points, and may travel even further this weekend, from a Saracens game in Taranaki.

Manuel-Harman, who played for the Hawke's Bay Magpies in this year's Ranfurly Shield defence against Heartland champion South Canterbury, converted one of the two first-half tries scored by teenage wing and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngati Kahungunu o Te Wairoa pupil Tamati Tuhi last Sunday.

In the second half he scored a try and kicked a penalty goal, before Waikohu started a comeback from 5-20 down to score the last two of their three unconverted tries.

The dismissal of the protest was confirmed by Poverty Bay Rugby Union CEO Josh Willoughby, who said Wairoa had responded by raising other issues about the game in Te Karaka, and the complaints, considered by representatives of his union along with Hawke's Bay and East Coast, cancelled each other out.

Taylor said Wairoa fielded only players living in or originally from Wairoa district, and coach Sid Ropitini resisted the opportunity to field at least one other Hawke's Bay premier player who was there, but was not from Wairoa.

Now the team's lining up for Sunday, including captain and hooker Ngahiwi Manuel, who is on the fringe of the Poverty Bay NPC Heartland squad, which plays in Westport on Saturday, and prop Daniel Knubley, who has played Heartland rugby for Ngati Porou East Coast and hails originally from the Uawa area.