Talking Rugby with John B Phillips: Big ask for Whanganui Rugby to reach final

John B Phillips

After being nailed 24-17 by the Mid Canterbury Hammers last weekend, the Steelform Butchers now need to scalp six opposing teams to have a realistic chance of reaching a Heartland rugby final this season.

Whanganui recovered to win six on the trot in the last championship in 2019 to qualify for the Meads Cup final against North Otago.
The Butcher Boys claimed the fourth qualifying position, but this year there is a straight final between the top two sides for the Meads Cup with the third and fourth qualifiers in the Lochore Cup final of the Bunnings Warehouse-sponsored competition.

Whanganui slipped from No. 1 to No. 5 on the ladder when the Hammers scored a last-minute converted try in Ashburton last Saturday, four points adrift of South Canterbury, Thames Valley and Mid Canterbury, and three behind Horowhenua-Kapiti.
The Butcher Boys have away trips to Timaru and Te Aroha, host the Levin side and need to win all three fixtures and hope that someone can topple the Hammers.

A rejuvenated Mid Canterbury side, bolstered by Canterbury loan players, handled the strong wind far better last weekend, scoring four tries to three, although one from the hosts should have been scrubbed by the experienced Otago referee.
A local touch judge was raising his flag to signify an attacking player had put his foot over the sideline, then changed his mind and dropped the flag, but several Whanganui defenders had relaxed and a controversial try was scored.
It was a classic case of not following the old saying, "play to the whistle".

The Hammers are traditionally difficult to beat, especially at home, and a strong set of forwards set up a ninth victory over Whanganui on the Showgrounds.
Two of the visiting side being sin-binned did not help matters.
Defeat means there is now no "buffer loss game" remaining, and the local selectors will need to pick their best available team for all games over the coming six weeks starting against the Wairarapa-Bush Stags at Cooks Gardens on Saturday when the Bruce Steel Memorial Cup is at stake.

Whanganui have won nine of 12 Heartland games against the Stags since 2006, and 11 of 13 Steel Cup clashes, and really need a five-pointer (four or more tries) against opponents who have lost to Thames Valley 10-42 and South Canterbury 17-61 in the past fortnight.
The Stags have managed an odd victory here over the past quarter of a century, but have conceded 103 points in two Heartland outings this season to share the bottom-three ladder slots with King Country and Buller.

Bruce Steel Memorial Cup

Saturday will be the 14th time that Whanganui and Wairarapa-Bush will contest the Bruce Steel Memorial Cup over the past 47 years, with Whanganui ahead 11 victories to two.

Whanganui beat both Wairarapa and Bush away in 1970 before the merger of the two Wairarapa provincial unions who collected a 14-9 victory at Pahiatua in 1972, a year after the amalgamation.

Whanganui have played for the cup six times in Masterton and six occasions in Whanganui (at Spriggens Park in 1977 and five times at Cooks Gardens) and three times in Pahiatua.
Whanganui have lifted the trophy seven times, beating Manawatu 3-0 away in 1970 thanks to a Mike Farrell long-range penalty goal, 15-14 in 1976 and 16-9 in 1986 against Manawatu at Spriggens Park, 39-17 in 1993 at Levin against Horowhenua, 33-26 v Wairarapa-Bush on Cooks Gardens, 39-34 against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin in 2015 and Manawatu handed over the cup to Whanganui at Palmerston North in 2012 despite winning the non-first-class fixture 40-7.

Manawatu had dominated the trophy with 17 victories between 1965 and 1969, 11 between 1972 and 1976, 26 between 1977 and 1986, 17 plus a draw between 1987 and 1993 and 12 between 2001 and 2012 before handing over the cup to the other unions in the competition on the proviso that it could re-enter if it played in the same national division.

Whanganui had previously lost the Steel Cup five times to Manawatu – 18-20 in 1971, 15-46 in 1994 and 15-19 in 2001 at home and away 9-26 in 1977 (which was also for the Ranfurly Shield) and 9-22 in 1987.
Whanganui had five successful defences in 1970, four in 1976-77, three in 1986-87 and four in 2012-13 .
Wairarapa beat Horowhenua 20-12 in the inaugural cup fixture at Masterton in 1965, then Bush 31-5 before scored a 20-13 home win the same season.
Whanganui entered the competition a year later, being pipped 15-12 at the PN Showgrounds.

Peter Johns, to become an All Black two years later, scored two tries for Whanganui, Terry Trotter also scored and Bob Barrell landed a penalty in the union's first Steel Cup match.
Wairarapa-Bush won the cup during its first season as an amalgamated union, scoring a 21-11 away win over Manawatu in 1971 but after beating Wanganui 29-18 in Pahiatua and Horowhenua 44-6 at Levin lost 26-12 to Manawatu in Masterton in 1972.

It was not until the turn of the century that Wairarapa-Bush won the Steel Cup again with a 19-14 home victory over Manawatu in 2000, but after beating Horowhenua-Kapiti 24-7 at Levin, Whanganui lifted the trophy 33-26 in a night game at Cooks Gardens in 2001.
The latest cup success for Wairarapa-Bush was 28-18 against Whanganui at Masterton in 2019, but the Butcher Boys regained the trophy 29-8 here last year in the deciding game of a Covid related one-off round-robin series

Horowhenua-Kapiti have lifted the cup three times, beating neighbours Manawatu 26-3 at home in 1993, then beating Wairarapa-Bush 21-13 in Masterton only to lose 39-17 at home against Whanganui.
Horowhenua-Kapiti upset Whanganui 34-23 here at Cooks Gardens in 2014, won 12-9 at home over Wairarapa-Bush and were pipped 39-34 to the Butcher Boys at Levin the following season.

The cup was donated by Mr and Mrs William Steel, of Carterton, in 1965, in memory of their son who died of cancer in 1964.
Like his uncle Jack, who twice captained NZ during his 38 All Blacks appearances between 1920-25 while playing for West Coast and Canterbury, Bruce was a pacy winger at club level in Manawatu and Wairarapa-Bush.

The highest cup score was 79-7 to Whanganui over Wairarapa-Bush at Cooks Garden in 2017.
The next three highest scores were all recorded by Manawatu – 75-0 v Horowhenua in 1982, 75-13 v Whanganui in 1995 and 70-3 v Horowhenua in 1992, all in Palmerston North.
There has been only one draw in 133 games over 52 years – 15-all between Whanganui and Manawatu (holders) at Spriggens Park in 1990 when Guy Lennox landed five penalty goals for the home side.

Results of Steel Cup matches between Whanganui and Wairarapa Bush teams

Whanganui v Wairarapa –

1970 – Wanganui 26, Wairarapa 15

Masterton Whanganui v Bush –

1970 – Wanganui 14, Bush 9

Pahiatua Whanganui v Wairarapa-Bush –

1972 – Wairarapa-Bush won 29-18 – Pahiatua

1976 – Whanganui won 19-13 – Masterton

1977 – Whanganui won 16-6 – Whanganui

1986 – Whanganui won 19-12 – Pahiatua

1994 – Whanganui won 32-25 – Masterton

2001 – Whanganui won 33-26 – Whanganui

2012 – Whanganui won 26-19 – Masterton

2013 – Whanganui won 39-20 – Whanganui (not 1st class)

2015 – Whanganui won 57-35 – Masterton

2016 – Whanganui won 40-22 – Whanganui (not 1st class)

2017 – Whanganui won 79-7 – Whanganui.

2019 – Wairarapa-Bush won 28-18 – Masterton.

2020 – Whanganui won 29-8 – Whanganui.