KEY POINTS:
Maori talk about whakapapa - unbreakable bonds - and the best example I know of whakapapa is the global rugby family.
In 1987 a prodigious young talent burst onto the rugby scene, from Canada of all places. Gareth Rees became the best player ever to come out of the nation and led Canada in three World Cups. He was a great captain, a shrewd rugby brain and an inspirational leader.
In John Daniel's words, Gareth had the body of a seventeen stone shot putter who demanded seconds of everything. His boss at Wasps and our USA Rugby CEO, Nigel Melville, agreed and told me Gareth was the only guy who trained by eating and drinking.
To give you an idea of Gareth's physical makeup, a UK rugby commentator was once heard on TV to say, "A large gap opened up and Gareth Rees romped through it to score. Well, it had to be a large gap, of course".
I met Gareth in 1991 when he brought his brave Canadians down to Eden Park in Auckland to play the All Blacks.
At the time, I was heading up Lion Nathan and our flagship beer, Steinlager, was the All Black sponsor. Gareth was very gracious in thanking Steinlager profusely for their contribution to the game; an early indication of his commercial sensibilities.
I caught up with Gareth last week in Vancouver and had a fantastic dinner with him and his partner, Denise. We kicked off at 9:00pm and were still enjoying ourselves at 1:00am at the 5 Sails Restaurant at the Pan Pacific.
Next day I rocked up to the sailing centre to watch Gareth's Vancouver Academy youth-side play Kinross, a touring Scottish school. The ground was voted by Rugby World as one of the 10 most beautiful in the world and it was a night of pure grassroots rugby.
Gareth had the teams line up and sing their national anthems, which was moving for the handful of spectators and parents at the game.
The Canadians, fresh from a New Zealand tour, thumped the Scots but both teams played enterprising, attacking, inventive rugby. You had to be impressed. Here was Canada's best ever player with his tracksuit on, coaching a bunch of 17-year-olds.
Then it was back to the clubhouse where parents had all chipped in for the barbecue, complete with burgers, beans and a couple of beers.
It was interesting to watch the Canadian team standing back to make sure the Scots got their food first before they dug into the feast. All part of a well coached team, or a sign of whakapapa; both I would guess.
I left after a couple of hours with all 30 boys heading back to one of the Canadian lad's house for a party.
Kevin Roberts
