Hurricanes to play Blues at Mangatainoka

BY PETER LAMPP

The Hurricanes are to play the Blues at Mangatainoka on January 23.

Yeah right!

They are; it is fair dinkum and the Tui Brewery, of course, is behind it.

A Super 14 pre-season match is being organised for Pahiatua's tiddler satellite town. Mangatainoka has a pub, a brewery, a few houses, the Pahiatua Golf Club and not much else.

The Mangatainoka Rugby Club was formed in 1886 and has been in recess since 1986, but does have a ground on which livestock graze.

So when word came through of the proposed match, it was greeted with the same response as when reading the famous Tui billboards.

Manawatu Rugby Union chairman Tony Murphy knew nothing about it, even though Mangatainoka falls within Manawatu's sphere of influence. The Bush Rugby Club operates a few kilometres south in Pahiatua.

So a call was made yesterday to Hurricanes spokesman Sam Rossiter-Stead who confirmed it was more than a send-up.

"It's for real," he said. "Tui are one of our big sponsors and we are playing the Blues there.

"They are talking about thousands of tickets and bringing in stands, temporary seating. It should be a good game."

The Hurricanes are also likely to get involved in the community around the game, being held on Wellington Anniversary weekend. Tui helped raise $60,000 last year to restore the quaint grandstand which was built in 1907, holds about 122 people and has featured in many New Zealand pictorial books.

The property is owned by the Mangatainoka Domain Board and a rugby club reunion was held there in 2005.

Tui plans to sell 6500 seats for the grassroots rugby-style occasion.

Farmers and earthmovers are to level the field, which has good natural drainage, and will build temporary grandstands.

Such pre-season matches are usually held in small provincial venues like Gisborne, Levin and Wanganui.

This is the brainchild of Tui's commercial manager and Wairarapa resident, Nick Rogers.

"We have a fantastic relationship with the Hurricanes, both as a sponsor and partner, and they always want to get involved in the wider franchise community," he said.

"So we thought, why not do something a little different this year.

"Tui is bringing the big show to the small town," Rogers states.

"The ground is currently but a paddock next to a brewery but there is some serious work to be done.

"It's literally grassroots rugby. We're taking it right back to basics.

"Why are we doing this? I ask myself the same question every day but I know it will be rewarding."

He compared it with the population of Auckland going from 1 million people to 65 million for six hours.

Tui has teamed up with local businesses to get the event off the ground.

The match is expected to draw Hurricanes fans from Wairarapa-Bush, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday, November 11 from Tui Brewery or the Tui website (www.tui.co.nz) and PGG Wrightson stores in Hurricanes territory.

General admission tickets cost $25 with kids 10 and under free. Corporate tickets will be available for $100 for an event held on the back paddock. The event includes a guest speaker at 2pm and reserved stand seating.

- © Fairfax NZ News