The jubilee weekend features the naming of the Team of the Century, lifetime achievement award presentations and a match between old rivals Hawke's Bay.
The union was formed in the team's home city, Rotorua, in 1911 but the Bay did not play its first match until 1912. Up until this time the Bay was included within South Auckland union boundaries.
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union historian Brent Drabble says in that time 1159 players have represented the Bay of Plenty. He says it took him 14 years to complete his full history of the union, tracing and recording all of the players who have pulled on a Bay jersey. He has found every player who has played for the Bay, as a substitute on the field of play for a minute, through to Greg Rowlands who wore the blue and gold hoops on a union record 161 occasions. "I started all this in 1997, when Andy Miller, Ryan Wheeler and Nathan Strongman were all leaving the province.
"The numbers of loan players were increasing and I knew if I didn't start collecting information about them, they'd be lost to history as well.
During the season I'd collect all the details of the current players and in the off-season, I'd look for all the players who'd gone before. Bay of Plenty rugby is a year-round occupation for me now. I live it, breathe it and sleep it."
The honour of the first Bay of Plenty player was given to Rongo Nuku with number 1159 being Luke Katene who made his Steamers debut last season.
The union has produced myriad All Black and Maori All Black players over the years including the famous Stone brothers, Alan McNaughton, John Brake, Gary Braid, Glen Jackson and the legendary Hika Reid. Rotorua also produced some of New Zealand's best players never to pull on the Bay jersey. Former All Black captain, unbeaten in every test he played as captain, Wayne "Buck" Shelford, formidable prop Steve McDowell, midfield back Caleb Ralph and more recently flanker Liam Messam.
The Bay has also been the bane of touring international teams who dared play them at Rotorua's International Stadium, arguably one of the best rugby grounds in the country. In 1970 the Bay beat Fiji 14-8 and in 1982 completely thrashed the Wallabies 40-16 a week after they beat the All Blacks. In 1990 the team beat Australia once again by 12-4, one year out from their World Cup victory. The team also narrowly lost to a French touring side in the 1980s and went down valiantly to the Lions 34-20 in 2005. However, possibly their greatest victory was a hard fought Ranfurly Shield victory against Auckland in 2004. Underrated first-five-eighth Glen Jackson scored 23 points in the 33-28 victory over Auckland. Hard man Wayne Ormond became the first Bay of Plenty captain to lift the shield in front of hundreds of fans who travelled from all over the region to watch the match. The Bay beat Waikato in its first shield defence but lost to Canterbury the week later at Mt Maunganui 33-26.
The Bay also won the inaugural national provincial championship in 1976, but the sweet smell of success soon turned sour after the team were promptly relegated to the second division the very next year. Although the Bay lost its first 18 Ranfurly Shield challenges, there were some close calls over the years. In 1922 a missed conversion from in front of the posts on full-time saw them lose 17-16 to the Hawke's Bay. In 1984 the Bay led Canterbury 10-0 before losing 18-13. In 1996 the Bay almost broke their shield duck and with eight minutes to go, the now second division side led Auckland 29-11. Auckland clawed their way back but with time almost up still trailed by six points.
Bay of Plenty had the feed to a scrum, conceded a tighthead and Bay of Plenty boy Matt Carrington scored for Auckland in the corner. When he landed the conversion from the sideline, Auckland won 30-29.
The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union is holding its centenary jubilee in Rotorua on August 12 and August 13. For more information about the union's centenary celebrations go to
www.boprugby.co.nz
or call (07) 574 2037.
THE BAY'S ALL BLACKS
Andrew Leslie McLean - 1921
Leslie Frank Cupples - 1922
William Ngataiawhio Gray - 1955
Eric James Anderson - 1960
Arthur Grahn Jennings - 1967
Alan Murray McNaughton - 1971
Graeme Murray Crossman - 1974
Leonard John Brake - 1976
Gregory David Rowlands - 1976
Edward James Taite Stokes - 1976
Norman Mark Taylor - 1976
Hikatarewa Rockcliffe Reid - 1980
Frank Nuki Ken Shelford - 1981
Gary John Braid - 1983
Kevin Senio - 2005
Tanerau Latimer - 2009
Mike Delany - 2009
