The 1968 Waikato rugby team who took on France in Hamilton. Wren Bartram is in the middle row, first on the right.
The 1968 Waikato rugby team who took on France in Hamilton. Wren Bartram is in the middle row, first on the right.
Former Te Awamutu United and Waikato rugby representative #577 Wren Bartram had many claims to fame in his short rugby career, including a nomination for an All Blacks trial in 1967.
Born in Johnsonville, Wellington in 1942, Bartram was part of a multi-generation railway family that moved town a lot.
“I think the most time we had in one place was four years, so it was quite a [transitory] upbringing from that point of view,” says Wren.
“It was the nature of the beast in those days, and I don’t think it did anybody much harm.”
Wren was a “slightly built and small” hockey player, only playing a little bit of schoolboy rugby while at Taihape District High School before leaving school when the family transferred to Whanganui.
There, he joined the fourth-grade Kaierau Rugby Football Club team while looking for a motor-mechanic apprenticeship.
He couldn’t find an apprenticeship in Whanganui so he moved to Te Awamutu, where he worked at Kirk’s Garage, a Volkswagen dealership (now on Dixon St) on Alexandra St.
“Through friends, any sporting club was always a great social activity. I got involved with the third-grade Te Awamutu United team and it took off from there,” he says.
“I had played halfback for Kaierau and I thought I was pretty good. The Te Awamutu United third-grade coach was Don Stevenson, who went on to coach the Te Awamutu Sub-Union team. He asked me what position [I was]. ‘Proudly halfback’, I let him know. So, I got my first start and lasted about 15 minutes before he had me on the wing. After the game, he told me what a useless halfback I was.”
Wren Bartram of the 1964 Te Awamutu United team.
Wren went on to play a lot of centre and wing after that, representing Te Awamutu United across the grades from 1959-1968 as well as the Te Awamutu Rugby Sub-Union side from 1963-1968.
“We held [the Peace Cup] at the end of [1967] after beating Maniapoto, and it was the first time the Te Awamutu Sub-Union’s name was inscribed on it.
“Sub-union rugby in Te Awamutu during that era reflected on the quality of rugby being played at that level. That was a great period for me.”
His first big break came in 1964 when he was selected in the Waikato Colts (Under-21) and Waikato XV squads, playing again for the Colts the following season along with the Waikato B side before representing the senior Waikato side, primarily as a second five-eighth, from 1966-1968.
“Between all that were invitation games, with the likes of the Harlequins, Wasps, Corinthians and the Colin Meads Invitation XV,” says Wren.
“My call up to the senior squad was being flown down to Canterbury as a replacement, and I arrived there on an old DC-3 20 minutes before the game to play the whole game. It was quite an initiation. It went from there - I stayed with the squad for those years following, playing some 23 games, including one international [a 13-8 loss against France in 1968].”
In this match against France, Wren was the only Waikato player to cross the try line.
“The only other claim to fame is an All Black nomination for trial in 1967. I didn’t quite get there, but to be nominated was very pleasing for me.”
Even though Wren wasn’t originally from the Te Awamutu area, it had been his rugby home and the making of his career on the field, with the likes of Stevenson and Te Awamutu Rugby Sub-Union president Harold Sherwin having had a great impact.
“Harold always batted for the sub-union in every shape and form. I admired him immensely. He was a great supporter of players who showed a bit of ability. He was always batting for them to get invitation games - they were quite significant stepping stones of recognition and playing amongst top-level players. Not only did they lift your game, but they taught you a hell of a lot.”
The 1966 Te Awamutu Sub-Union team - winners of the Finlay Cup. Wren Bartram is in the middle row, third from the right.
In 1969, Wren and his young family moved to Te Puke so he could take on a service manager role.
After one season with the United Pirates Rugby Sports Club and an invitation to join the Bay of Plenty rugby squad, “it was time to hang the boots up” at age 27 due to his work and family commitments.
After retiring, he continued to be a keen spectator of rugby and enjoyed playing squash.
His career contained many highlights, including playing for the Waikato Colts in a curtain-raiser match during the 1965 Springboks tour, the 1968 game against the French and, of course, Ranfurly Shield clashes.
“The Ranfurly Shield was such a significant trophy to not only challenge for, but obviously retain. It was do or die.
“Unfortunately, Waikato lost it to Hawke’s Bay, who had the likes of All Blacks Ian MacRae and Bill Davis, but it started off their incredible period of holding the Ranfurly Shield [for 21 defences].”
Wren moved to Hamilton after leaving Te Puke in 1970 and departed the mechanic trade in 1978.
From there, he transitioned into capital equipment sales, continuing up the ranks and finishing as an area sales manager for machinery in Hamilton after time in Auckland with Cable Price.
These days, he still resides in Hamilton and enjoys spending time with his family.
He says that his inspiration to play rugby was the comradery and the character building.
“The friendships you make are life-long friendships, but you probably don’t realise it at the time. It’s a great sport. Any team sport helps you develop as a young person,” says Wren.
He says that rugby is very much like life.
“You can stay in one room, but unless you open the door and see what’s on the other side and get involved, you don’t go very far.”
