Rugby: Brother's bashings paying off

Taradale fullback Dan McIntyre installs a new hot water system in a Central Hawke's Bay house while on the job as an electrician with Flemings Electrical and Refrigeration. Photo / Duncan Brown

As a youngster Taradale fullback Dan McIntyre had some ding dong one-on-one rugby games against his older brother Tom in their Waipukurau backyard.

"Tom was four years older so it made things pretty easy when it was time to take on players my own age," McIntyre recalled.

Those games gave McIntyre the ideal grounding in the code. He went on to have three years in the Central Hawke's Bay College 1st XV before gaining selection in the Hawke's Bay under-18s and 20s, Hawke's Bay Sevens and Hawke's Bay Development teams.

After two seasons in the Central premier team he decided it was time to play alongside his brother in the Carters Frame and Truss Taradale team at the start of the 2015 season. He was ready to play with his brother rather than against him.

However they only managed one pre-season game together as Tom decided to pursue a career as a policeman and went to Wellington for his training before being posted to Christchurch. Despite working as an electrician for Flemings Electrical and Refrigeration in Waipukurau McIntyre opted to stick with Taradale.

"I get a bit of flak when I'm on the job down in Central Hawke's Bay and I've still got lots of mates in the Central team.

But I needed a change, I'm enjoying playing for Taradale and they're looking after me," McIntyre said.

Enjoying it is probably a bit of an understatement ... McIntyre, 22, is nailing it.

On Saturday he scored four tries as he produced a player-of-the-match display in a 51-20 Tui Maddison Trophy third round win against Clive at Farndon Park.

This performance saw him become the 12th weekly winner as the tussle for the McDonalds-Hawke's Bay Today Club Rugby Player of the Year award continued. It also took his try tally in his last three games to nine.

Asked to explain the improvement between the Nash Cup round when Taradale won four of their nine games and the Maddison Trophy round in which they have won all three games to date McIntyre replied:

"It's to do with an attitude thing going into the second round. We've got the right mindset, we're working hard for each other and working together a lot better."

After scoring two tries for the Hawke's Bay XV in the Queen's Birthday win against Wairarapa Bush after being called into the squad two days beforehand McIntyre has been retained in the Magpies wider training group.

"It's good to be back in there and the plan is to push for another start in the Magpies next pre-season game," McIntyre said.

He missed the last three games in the Nash Cup round with a hip injury and his first game back was the 40-9 demolition job on Havelock North at the start of the Maddison round. It didn't take long to prove he was fully recovered.

Equally at home on the wing or at fullback, McIntyre, said he preferred the No15 jersey.

Don't be surprised if McIntyre shows up in a Magpies jersey during the Mitre 10 Cup.

He's ticking the right boxes and if it happens expect the older brother to claim a lot of the credit.