Masterton launches rugby tour

A nationwide exhibition tour celebrating the muddied knees and green-grimed shorts of grassroots New Zealand rugby was launched in Masterton yesterday.
The Oranges at Halftime exhibition is a partnership between the Roadshow Science-Technology Trust and project management firm eklektusinc that will pace a nationwide tour with the Rugby World Cup Tournament, according to eklektusinc chief executive Morgan Davie.
The exhibition opened in the Countdown supermarket carpark yesterday and runs for two days before heading over the hill to the Hutt and down to Methven and a month side-stepping through South Island centres.
The exhibition, which is housed aboard a specialised trailer designed and built by Astrolite Motor Bodies in Masterton, will afterward complete a month-long North Island tour before parking up on the Auckland waterfront in time for the semifinals round of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Mr Davie said the exhibition focused on the memories and memorabilia, including film footage, keepsakes and photos of age-grade, club and provincial players and supporters in New Zealand since the 1950s.
He said that static and interactive displays captured Saturday morning matches, the community and provincial involvement, the traditions, the lasting friendships and the memories of the people who loved the game.
"The challenge was being able to contact all the clubs, unions and sub-unions who had all this really cool stuff and great stories to tell," Mr Davie said.
"There's so much information and memorabilia about the All Blacks, but the grassroots stuff is a lot harder to find - you know, more often than not it's out in the back shed of a guy who used to coach a team 20 years ago."
Mr Davie said exhibition-goers would also have a chance to video-record memories of their days chasing the oval ball on the Orange Box.
Renowned rugby commentator Keith Quinn gives video instructions on how to successfully record stories, which are told, of course, while seated on a box painted orange.
The exhibition title is itself a reference to the oranges supplied to school, club and some provincial team players as a calming agent and cure-all.