Wairarapa rugby museum mooted

PROUD: George Mahupuku displays the boots his father Alf Mahupuku wore when he landed the dropped goal which gave Wairarapa their famous 3-0 Ranfurly Shield win over Canterbury in 1950.

Plans are afoot to establish a rugby museum in Masterton.

Prime supporter of the proposal is the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Supporters Club whose rooms at Memorial Park, commonly known as the Gravel Pit, would house the facility.

WBRSC president Roddy McKenzie said yesterday his committee would be meeting soon to finalise arrangements for a public function at which the pros and cons of setting up something which could provide a detailed record of rugby in the Wairarapa and Bush regions would be fully discussed. And the interest shown would very probably decide whether the museum was a goer or not.

"Quite honestly I don't think we will have any problem in convincing people it is a good idea. It's been talked about for a while but it's gone no further than that. We just want to advance things to the point where it actually happens."

McKenzie said a decision by the WBRSC to display some old rugby memorabilia like photographs and programmes on the walls of their Memorial Park rooms over the 2013 season had provided extra proof that a museum would be a popular attraction at the headquarters of the sport here.

"Many times I've stood and watched people walk around the walls and take a good look at what is on display. There would hardly be a minute before and after rep games that someone isn't doing that," he said. "It makes you realise the importance of history in most people's minds, there's something special about being taken back in time."

McKenzie said the memorabilia on display "wouldn't even touch the surface" of how much past history could be available for a museum - a sentiment easy to understand when you consider the first interclub match was played in Wairarapa in 1879 and the first in the Bush in 1888.

Rugby was a very different game back then though with a report on a match between Greytown and Carterton in 1879 saying the teams each had 15 players, 10 of whom were forwards, two quarter backs, two half backs and one fullback. And there was no referee. In those days if any player appeared to be taking any unfair advantage of the opposition, the non-offending captain would appeal to the umpire who, if he agreed, would halt play by waving his flag.

A museum would also provide the chance to further celebrate some of Wairarapa's most famous victories, like claiming the Ranfurly Shield off Hawke's Bay in 1927 and then just a few weeks later losing it to the same team in a fiery encounter, widely coined as the Battle of Solway.

Another successful challenge by Wairarapa for the "log of wood" followed in 1928 when they edged out Canterbury 8-7 and attracted a rather insensitive congratulatory telegram from the Mayor of Masterton which read: "Congratulations on your win. Suggest you drop the shield overboard in Cook Strait on your return." To which the team replied: "Thanks for your congratulations. Will drop the shield into Cook Strait provided it is tied around your neck." The Mayor of Masterton did not host a civic welcome on the team's return.

Perhaps of all Wairarapa's successful challenges, the 3-0 win over Canterbury in September 1950 is the biggest part of rugby folklore. Wairarapa fullback Alf Mahupuku was the hero of that victory, his field goal being the only scoring action in a tightly contested game. This time the team were given a mayoral welcome home and Mahupuku's boot became a showpiece in shop windows.

The 1971 season marked the initial year of the amalgamation between the Wairarapa and Bush unions and who will forget the 11 straight victories in 1981 when a side coached by, the now Sir, Brian Lochore won promotion to the national first division competition, a result of true fairytale proportions.