Rugby: More smiles than tackles as veterans strut their stuff

Members of the Samoan vintage rugby team are (front, from left) Sala Maresi Kaia, Oloi Ponifasio...
Members of the Samoan vintage rugby team are (front, from left) Sala Maresi Kaia, Oloi Ponifasio Hsiata, (back) Auielua Taito Samuele Enari, Henry Bourke, Steve Keil, Peter Poulos, Pauli Robertson, Jason Bell and Maualaivao Pepe Seiule. Photos by...
Enjoying the 2015 World Vintage Rugby Carnival at the Queenstown Events Centre yesterday are Mike...
Enjoying the 2015 World Vintage Rugby Carnival at the Queenstown Events Centre yesterday are Mike Dowling with four of his five rugby-playing sons (from left) Logan (35), Ryan (40), Kerry (35) and Vaughan (37). Absent was the oldest brother, Willy, who...
Members of the Pally Pigs, from Australia, in action on their way to winning the carnival's tug...
Members of the Pally Pigs, from Australia, in action on their way to winning the carnival's tug of war competition.
Former All Black Andrew Hore eyes up an opposition player during the Maniototo Blowflys game...
Former All Black Andrew Hore eyes up an opposition player during the Maniototo Blowflys game against the Upper Clutha Wrinkly Rams.
Waikato's Phillip "Sooty" Samuels evades the defence.
Waikato's Phillip "Sooty" Samuels evades the defence.

If there was ever any doubt this wasn't your normal rugby tournament, that was cleared up within minutes of arriving at the Queenstown Events Centre yesterday.

On field one, the Matamata Bone Crushers were up against The Ali'is, the latter a team which had travelled from Samoa for the 2015 World Vintage Rugby Carnival.

It was, to say the least, a schmozzle.

A line-out - deemed not straight by the ref - prompted the Matamata side to protest.

The second throw-in saw two balls go flying through the air, with Matamata grabbing the second and playing a parallel game of rugby among themselves.

The referee tried, and failed, to control the game, at one point instructing the players to pull their heads in because ''we've got to sort this s . . . t out''.

It didn't work.

A scrum - where Golden Oldies rules meant there was no pushing - was packed down.

And, on the ref's instructions, a woman crawled into its midst to deliver the ball at the feet of The Ali'is' front row.

For many of the Samoan side it was their first visit to Queenstown and, like the 500 other players in the resort for the carnival, held every second year, the rugby was little more than a distraction.

Two sides that looked to be taking it seriously, though, were the Maniototo Blowflys and the Upper Clutha Wrinkly Rams - bolstered by former All Black Pita Alatini - proving that rugby rivalry is alive and well in Central Otago.

The Maniototo side, featuring another former All Black, Andrew Hore, had one family to thank for almost a third of its team, but ''not the best third, I wouldn't think''.

The Dowling brothers - Ryan (40) , Vaughan (37) and twins Kerry and Logan (35) - all turned out for the team yesterday, with their father, Mike, watching from the sidelines.

On Wednesday, during games in Alexandra, the eldest son, Willy - who is ''close enough to 50'' - also joined them, marking the first time all of the siblings had taken the field together.

All five are in the forward pack.

Born and raised in Ranfurly, Mike Dowling played rugby for the local team growing up, all of the boys following in his footsteps and turning out for the Maniototo Maggots premier side, with Logan and Vaughan still lacing their boots up most Saturdays during winter.

Carnival director Paul Guest, of Auckland-based Vintage Sport & Leisure, said the week had been ''superb''.

''The feedback we've had has been fantastic. I think it's very difficult for people not to fall in love with Queenstown, though.''

While the 2017 tournament would be held in Ottowa, Canada, Guest said there was a possibility Queenstown would host a transtasman golden oldies or vintage tournament every second year and organisers would look into options.

The carnival officially concludes tonight with a social function at the Events Centre, during which an award will be presented to the oldest player of this year's tournament, an 88-year-old from Samoa.

The event had raised $5000 for CureKids, the official charity, but Guest was hoping that would more than double by the end of a fundraising auction, with a signed Rugby World Cup All Blacks jersey and an autographed picture of the late Jonah Lomu, who died on Wednesday, to go under the hammer.

tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz

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