Sir Bryan George Williams at the Ponsonby Rugby Club in Western Springs.
“Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”
The immortal words of televangelist Robert H Schuller were the same words used by former Black Ferns captain, Eloise Blackwell, when articulating Ponsonby Rugby Club’s journey over the past two years.
The club, who this year celebrate their 150th anniversary, had their Western Springs clubrooms and fields devasted in the Auckland Anniversary floods which caused major disruption to all grades as teams had to train and play at grounds around Tāmaki Makaurau.
Founded in 1874, Ponsonby are the longest-standing grassroots club in Auckland, winning their first premier title before the Auckland Rugby Union was even formed.
Fast-forward through those 150 years and Ponsonby remain a force in every rugby grade across the city, their 47 Auckland titles for the men’s premier side remains a record that will not soon be broken.
This year their premier women, aka the Fillies, won the coveted Coleman Shield for a second successive year after a remarkable crown was secured in 2023 despite all of their matches being played away from home.
The Ponsonby Fillies celebrate retaining the Coleman Shield. Photo / Auckland Rugby
In their usual trailblazing fashion, Ponsonby have notched another first this season. With the men’s premier side reaching the Gallaher Shield final this Saturday it is the first time any Auckland club has been represented in both men’s and women’s finals – a remarkable feat considering the adversity of last year.
Blackwell, who is not only captain of the Fillies but also of the 2023 Farah Palmer Cup champion Auckland side and a member of the Super Rugby Aupiki title-winning Blues, tells the Herald the floods dented the spirit of Ponsonby initially but also helped bring the club together.
“Last year was pretty hard, we obviously didn’t have any certain training fields – we got moved all around the place ... all the other teams had no fields and then the fields we ended up playing on were the Western Springs outer fields and it was like you were in a bog.”
The skipper says there was no time to complain as not only were the playing surfaces damaged but irreplaceable memorabilia – caps, jerseys and trophies – were also hit by the floods and much was unable to be salvaged.
Blackwell says it was when Ponsonby and All Blacks legend Sir Bryan “Beegee” Williams visited the club and spoke to the Ponies, the collective noun for any Ponsonby club member, that they realised how pulling on the blue and black hoops meant more than bricks, mortar or pieces of silverware.
“It wasn’t until Beegee came down and spoke to all the premier teams and just to see him and the devastation, you could see him nearly tearing up and that’s probably when it hit home for us how huge this was.
“Beegee said No Ezy Pony [the club motto] – tough times don’t last but tough people do, that was kind of the mantra we adopted.”
Ponsonby and All Blacks legend Sir Bryan Williams. Photo / Dean Purcell
With someone who possesses the mana that Williams does walking the sidelines, it means pulling on that Ponsonby jersey is not something you do for yourself, but for those who have gone before – even more so in a 150th anniversary year.
The Fillies took it upon themselves to ensure they were leading the way in that regard and Blackwell says being forced to train outside the usual system meant bonds were formed among the club that may not have been had Auckland not had half a year’s worth of rain on that fateful weekend.
“We became quite close with our [Under-]21s, which is quite cool because we’ve got a lot of young girls in our team as well so we got to spend a lot of time training together. That not only benefits you in terms of the rugby side of things but also in the social side as well.”
That sentiment is echoed by men’s premier coach, Willy Gibbons who says through the damage emerged a club that is stronger than ever, buoyed on by 150 years of history.
His side will on Saturday hope to avenge a 2023 semifinal loss against Pakuranga when they play at Eden Park for the Gallaher Shield.
“This year’s been different, there’s been a lot of support in the background. Our committee, our board members, our life members – actually having a big involvement with them after the game at after-matches. We didn’t have that last year,” Gibbons says.
He and other members of the coaching staff have encouraged their team to spend time after each match speaking with those who make Ponsonby Rugby Club what it is today – its members.
Going one better than last year was established as the aim ahead of the 2024 season and Gibbons says his charges know what they have to do to cap off a historic year for the club.
“That was our motivation for this year, being the 150th. We set ourselves a goal and so far we’ve got one hand on that shield and we haven’t taken our eye off that goal so far. The boys are focused and they’re ready to go an extra week [this year].”
Auckland Men’s Premier final
Ponsonby v Pakuranga – Saturday, Eden Park, kickoff 3pm
