BoP rugby team gets additional shock

Photo / Rotorua Daily Post.

Among thousands trapped by an airport closure in Christchurch by the massive earthquake, are the shaken Bay of Plenty national provincial championship rugby side, which lost to Canterbury last night.

Players were rattled before dawn and with the power off made their way to the hotel foyer, down stairwells and past pipes which burst in the shake.

"It was a rude awakening," coach Sean Horan told NZPA.

"It went for a long time. The players all got out of bed it was 'hell, what's happening here?'

Some of the younger players had never experienced a big quake, and were quite shocked by the force of it, Horan said.

Players were frantically texting, and getting texts from home to check they were all right, he said.

With the airport closed until 10am, the side was now trapped in Christchurch.

All of the players had been quickly accounted for, as the planned early flight home had meant drinking was off limits after their 28-9 loss.

Bay of Plenty had been the first side to encounter massive league convert in an NPC match, but will now remember their trip south for other reasons.

Horan said the shake had been even more impressive than Williams.

"It wasn't Sonny Bill, it was more like the Canterbury scrum," he said.

"It was like running into Owen Franks again - that's more of a worry! Really, we would have liked more excitement last night, around 7.30pm, than this."

- NZPA