Wallaby-laden Silver Foxes outwit Pokolbin Reds

Try to imagine your ideal day of Australian rugby. Well, ideally you’d have a David and Goliath battle, so lets go for a starting line-up of Wallaby greats, playing against a group of eager amateurs.

We’re looking for plenty of tries, so no rain please, just a nice sunny day, a firm ground, and a hint of breeze. For atmosphere, lets order up a sideline crowd of eager fans cheering every audacious play and scintillating try.

And where to hold it? We’ll need a drink after the game, so how about we have it all taking place on a picturesque little bush oval surrounded by some of the best wineries in Australia.

Oh, and of course, don’t forget to insert yourself on the playing field, living the dream and muscling up against some of the best Test Wallabies of the last 20 years.

Wistful sighs? I can hear them from here, and although you might think it’s an impossible dream, this was the exact scenario that greeted a group of wily veterans and callow youth from that jewel of Hunter Valley rugby – the Pokolbin Reds Rugby Club – last weekend, September 20, 2008.

The occasion?

The third outing of the Silver Foxes invitation rugby team to raise funds for rugby charity Hearts In Union. Hearts In Union (HIU) raises money for players who have suffered spinal injuries playing the game. Specifically, they work to offer assistance to players who have been injured for 5 or more years – right about the time that their initial support has run dry, and right when their first wheelchair is about to give up the ghost. It’s a great cause, and one behind which several sponsors and players have thrown their weight – the HIU patron being the incomparable John Eales.

But back to the weekend.

It was all initiated via a phone call from Pokolbin President Iain Riggs to Tim Horan whom he knew had played for the Foxes. Would the Foxes be interested in coming to the Hunter for the weekend to play the Reds? Horan relayed the call to Foxes supremo, president and chief selector Richard Harry, and Silver Foxes III was born.

Following successful outings against a Central West Barbarians outfit at Millamolong in March 2008 and the mighty Bungendore Mudchooks in March 2007, Harry had a hard core of willing volunteers willing to follow him into battle up at the Hunter Valley and for rugby enthusiasts, the team list was guaranteed to cause an involuntary drooling reflex.

Test Wallabies Andrew Blades, Marco Caputo, Richard Harry, John Langford, David Wilson, Tim Gavin, Owen Finegan, Sam Payne, Andrew Leeds, Jason Little, Tim Kelaher, James Grant and Joe Roff all ran out to start the match, which was played over three twenty minute thirds.

The wonderful thing about the Foxes is its inclusivity, which brings several non-Wallabies into the fold, and so in true Silver Foxes style, there were a number of left field selections joining the ranks – England and IRB Sevens point scoring record holder Ben Gollings; former Zimbabwe international and Norths second rower Chris Botha; ex-NSW Country and Eastern Suburbs no 8 Hugh Williams; Sydney University and Orange Emus legend Toby Tancred; former Manly half Angus Klem; ACT rep and long time Japan pro Adam Harley; Eastern Suburbs young guns Tom Freeman and Mike Ross; and your humble correspondent.

The Silver Foxes arrived in the Hunter on Friday night, which meant that a junior coaching clinic shook some of the greeting party cobwebs from the heads at around 11am on Saturday. Obligation fulfilled – the Foxes retired to the nearby Cam-way Estate to hear a rousing motivational speech from celebrity coach Matthew Burke. In a move sure to delight Foxes groupies, Burke went against the player-to-coach path and announced that he will be resigning Foxes coach duties to resume his customary position at fullback for future matches.

Inspired by that news, the Foxes then headed to the ground en masse, surrounded by swarms of kids and got a taste of the local foodie culture in the form of the worlds biggest seafood paella – ideal pre-match carbo loading.

What with photos, curtain raisers and team introductions it seemed that the game would never get under way, but suddenly the whistle went and…game on!

The Pokolbin boys may have been outclassed on paper, but reputations mattered little once the pill was in play. Although the scrums were uncontested, the tackles were full bore and the Foxes were rocked by the Reds halfback who surprised Richard Harry on the fringe of the ruck after only 5 or 6 minutes, slipped through to run 35 metres, and posted the first score for the Reds.

This clicked the Foxes into gear and saw some tremendous running from Owen Finegan, Joe Roff and Jason Little, and several magical touches from the Sevens master Gollings at 5/8th . The highlights were numerous, but perhaps none better than the 30th minute display from former Waratah and Wallaby half Sam Payne. Knees strapped like the Thermoskin dummy in the chemists window, Payne explored the right hand blind side and drew several Reds defenders before throwing an astonishing 35 metre reverse pass right onto the chest of Gollings standing midfield, who broke down the left hand side of the field and put the Foxes in to score.

Tim Gavin revelled in the tight work with his vice-like farmers grip and flanker David Wilson showed why he is the Godfather of modern open-sides, uncannily arriving at several rucks and forcing turnovers before anyone knew what had happened.

Front rowers Blades, Harry and Caputo ran wide and free, with Caputo particularly scoring a juicy five pointer after some top quality seagulling out wide. Any wider and he would have been in the carpark, but the hands and pace were still in evidence and got him over the line.

Wings Grant and Roff showed that class has no age limit, although perhaps the Friday night reds took a yard or two off the former Wallabies’ pace. The Pokolbin side scored a 50 metre intercept through one of their speedy wings, upon whom Roff made little impression during the chase, but he made amends with several sweetly timed passes and breaks after slipping into the 5/8 spot which had been deviously promised to him in the lead-up by Foxes captain Harry. “Sure Roffy – anywhere you like…yeah 5/8 no problem…”!

Grant took a leaf out of the Michael O’Connor playbook, only running at full pace when absolutely required, although “full pace” is a relative concept, and for Grant it means “faster than most 20 year olds” despite his late 1960’s birthdate. Former Wallaby custodian Tim Kelaher was channeling Changa Langlands with a brand new pair of snow white boots, but his performance was better than Changas ill fated Grand Final. TK used his massive guns to good effect, wrestling through would be tacklers and setting up outside men regularly.

Wallaby and Wests fullback Andrew Leeds played it hard and straight as always and was a vital link in several Foxes tries with pinpoint cutout passes. Eventually it all got too much for the other Wallaby fullback Burke, who threw down his clipboard, threw on a jersey and ran on at the back. His recent knee injury was obviously fresh on his mind, but eventually the confidence returned and with it the sublime skills and the constant chat. As a non-Wallaby Fox, I can at least say I now know what it feels like to be chipped by the best in the business for being lazy in the defensive line!

Of course, no match report would be complete without mentioning the perpetual motion machine that is John Langford. Langford played in the 4th grade Grand Final for Sydney University vs Randwick in the morning, then jumped straight in the car with his family and drove to the Hunter, arriving in time to lace his boots back on and play 50 odd minutes of quality rugby for the Silver Foxes.

While all this was going on the Pokolbin boys were tackling hard, slipping through gaps and picking off several intercepts from wayward passes which led to tries. When the dust settled they were close enough for the Foxes to be uncomfortable. The exact score? Who knows, but as one wit remarked after the Foxes Bungendore game it was something like “A million to half a million”. Close enough anyway.

After several après match refreshments on the sideline with local punters, it was back to the Blaxland Inn (which must surely be one of the best pubs in NSW) for the old-school after match function. Both teams mingled freely with local sponsors and club members over some tremendous Hunter Valley beef and red wines but the highlights were the six man boat race (won by the Foxes courtesy of a devastating final leg from Owen Finegan), and the impromptu jam session started by Diane, the gorgeous bar manager from the Blaxland Inn.

After she finished her Norah Jones / Kasey Chambers type set, the guitar was commandeered by lead guitarist for the Gunnedah based band The Poly Pipes, aka Tim Gavin. Gavin is as good a guitarist as he was a number 8, and can bang out high quality rock and roll like no one’s business. Soon he was joined by Fox centre Tom Freeman who does Sunday acoustic session at Easts rugby club in Sydney.

Richard Harry stepped up briefly and had the crowd screaming for more with his Elvis-inspired version of Suspicious Minds (complete with trademark sneer and hip thrusts) plus a couple of off-the-cuff sets of lyrics which would have done Wayne Brady proud, and then finally one of the Pokolbin props, a quiet and happy Tongan guy (whose name I have unfortunately forgotten, but he is godson of the great Tongan centre Steve Finau), slipped in, picked up the guitar and finished off the session with some Jack Johnson style acoustic work which left everyone just feeling great about life.

Was it a good weekend? As one of the players was heard to say “What’s not to like?”. The Pokolbin Rugby Club, particularly Iain Riggs and Sam Robson, can be justly proud of their efforts in creating, planning and executing what must go down as one of the best days of rugby in the Hunter for years, and in true rugby spirit, they were not alone. Macquarie Bank organized all the playing kit.

Tooheys and Barons Brewing weighed in with plenty of sponsors product, as did Brokenwood wines. Man Investments committed to a generous cash sponsorship of the Silver Foxes, all of which goes directly to Hearts In Union and subsequently, to injured players needing help just to live their lives.
And amongst all the hilarity, this is what the day was about – helping rugby help its own.

Everyone played their part – the players entertained; the officials planned and executed; the volunteers stood out in the sun and cooked and tended bars; and the spectators gave generously in raffles and auctions.

To borrow a line from a Sydney journo, it was indeed “rugby, as it should be played”. May there be many more.