PURC has had the pleasure of showing Welshman Brian Jones from the Ogmore Vale RFC in Wales around our great club over the past few weeks and he has put together an article for the Ogmore Valley Locak Historical Journal.

Forging A Link With New Zealand 

By Brian Jones

My daughter Emma and then fiance (now husband) Dan, emigrated to New Zealand in 2005 which has given me the chance to spend a lot of time out there and see places over there that most people don’t get to see. So, I am privileged to have what is a once in a lifetime holiday for most, to become my usual holiday. 

Having served on the committee and played for Ogmore Vale RFC (OVRFC) from 1978 to 1985 I got to thinking perhaps there’s an opportunity on my next visit to New Zealand, to forge a link with a New Zealand rugby club which would give us the opportunity to not only swap achievements and stories but it may also present the opportunity, being that if any of OVRFC players or members were to go to Auckland perhaps on a Wales or Lions tour or just a visit, they would have a club to visit and see the way the southern hemisphere game is played at grass roots and maybe even guest for them. We could maybe return the offer if any of their players or members were to come over to Wales? 

Not being able to get out there for 4 years, due to the pandemic, the opportunity arose to go back out there once again and I spent 3 months with my family over Christmas 2022 into the New Year 2023. Prior to my visit I asked OVRFC if they would give my idea some thought and allow me to bring it to fruition which I’m happy to say, they agreed to, so I had a pendent with the club badge on and a players shirt to swap if I cloud find a suitable club? 

A few weeks before I travelled I asked my son in law if he knew of any local rugby clubs that may be interested? A work college of his was well connected in the rugby circle (his son an Auckland Blues academy player is currently playing for Saracens U19’s but unfortunately, due to the Christmas holiday period and work commitments he couldn’t get me in touch directly. So I had to scour the area for a club and ask for a meeting. In between family time and after the Christmas holidays and on my travels around the area I was trying to see if I could find some clubs to research? I came up with three possibilities but two were mainly youth driven. I briefly researched the third club, Pakuranga United Rugby Club and gave the general manager, a chap by the name of John East a ring and asked if they would be interested?, As it happened he was still on his annual leave but he agreed to meet with me and discuss the venture when he got back the following week. 

A meeting was arranged at the club and the ball was rolling. 

When I arrived at the club my first impressions were this is a very big club, which put a bit of doubt in my head as to whether or not they would link up with us being such a small club in comparison? My mind was quickly put at ease when John introduced me to his soon to be replacement due to his forthcoming retirement Mike Bongiovani. I spent over two hours swapping information about the clubs and I gave them a photo copy of the article about, when New Zealand broke Ogmore’s four year unbeaten record at home which was greatly appreciated. We then went on a tour of the amazing facilities they have there. I swapped shirts with John East (pictured with me) and I was then invited to spend an evening as Mike’s guest to meet some of the members, and have a few beers, little did I know the president would be there who I was introduced to and with whom I had quite a lengthy chat. I had a fantastic time there and was even invited to a 60th birthday party going on that night for a man still playing I was led to believe, in one of the over 50’s teams, where I was introduced to more players and their wives and girlfriends. I was really treated like a celebrity and made to feel so welcome. I was also invited to a preseason selection/training night and I went to a celebrity touch match, our version of touch rugby, again as Mike’s guest, both were very entertaining. The link was now truly in place. 

So what about the club? Pakuranga United Rugby Club is the biggest rugby club in Auckland. Formed in 1965, they are a fairly young club by our rugby standards but have grown at an amazing pace, and is home to over 60 Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Nursery teams during the winter. 

They are located at Bell Park in Lloyd Elsmore Park in Auckland's Eastern Suburbs. Bell Park was gifted to them by Duffy Bell a local farmer, similar to OVRFC being gifted their ground. 

The club has enjoyed senior rugby success at all levels including winning the Auckland Club Sevens in 2018, the George Nicholson Cup in 2017 & 2015, 2013 Gallaher Shield and Alan McEvoy Shield for the first time in history, as well as winning the 2013 National Club Sevens Championship. Other significant results include winning the U21 Championship in 2012, the Waka Nathan Challenge Cup in 2011 and the Auckland Club Sevens in 2010. Their junior teams continue to build players for the future and the club recently added another Junior Championship to their total in the 2010 U13 Restricted Grade. 

The club's Sevens team travels around to several big Sevens Tournaments in New Zealand during the Summer. The club also hosts the annual Pakuranga Club Sevens Tournament each January. 

The club also runs one of the largest Summer Touch modules in Auckland from October through to February. 

Pakuranga United has been a feeder club from very early and still is today, players progress to the next level clubs ie: Auckland City, etc then on to the Auckland Blues, etc then the regional sides ie, Crusaders, Chiefs, Hurricanes etc, then to international level. 

The club can also boast seven players who went through the ranks to become “All Blacks”, S.T. Pokere 1984, S.C McDowell 1985, H.A. Reid 1985, S. Puitau 2013, M. Fekitoa 2014, D. Papalii 2018, B. Ennor 2019. Another accolade the club holds is they were coached, quite successfully by Wayne Pivac before he came over to the UK and subsequently onto coach Wales albeit not as successfully. 

As you can see they have quite an impressive player portfolio and that’s without the players who made names for themselves in the lower divisions. 

In 2012, Senior Netball was introduced to the club, and, in the future, the club will be expanding into Junior Netball as well. 

Badminton also plays a big part in Pakuranga sport, and they have East Auckland's only international standard badminton facility. "The Gym" as it is known has 11 courts for play as well as an indoor basketball court and a fully equipped weights room. On top of this there are plans in hand to double the size of “The Gym”. Recently, the club members helped with refurbishing the toilets, showers and sauna areas for members of the club to enjoy. 

This club is a prime example of how passionate the people in New Zealand are about sport but especially rugby, where it is coached from a very early age up to over 85’s. Their rugby culture is second to none at grass roots level right through to international level. So it’s not surprising that in some of the larger properties they have rugby posts in their gardens. Ogmore Vale RFC and in fact anyone from the Ogmore Valley or with a valley connection who may be on a trip of a lifetime now have a very doable, opportunity of visiting the biggest club at roots level in Auckland which cannot be a bad thing. Especially if the expansion plans that the management are going to apply for soon go ahead, and they construct a 50 room visitor complex next to the gym? 

To conclude I would like to thank OVRFC for allowing me to represent them in what has been a very enjoyable project. And of course Pakuranga United Rugby Club for agreeing to be the link and for the hospitality and welcome they showed me. I hope that the clubs will look forward to sharing achievements and maybe players and members can meet sometime and get to make some new friends just as I have.

Article added: Friday 10 February 2023