Temuka ‘oldies' are off to Edinburgh

For the love of the game: Travelling to Edinburgh next month for the Golden Oldies World Rugby...
For the love of the game: Travelling to Edinburgh next month for the Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival in Edinburgh are (front from left) Lindsay Parke, Darryl Hanifin, and Ian Shepherd and (back from left) Roger Harmon, Kevin Birt and Ray Teahen.
There is life after death for old rugby players, Temuka's Lindsay Parke says.


The Temuka Magpies golden oldies rugby team stalwart may have hung up his boots for now, after a hip replacement last year, but that has not stopped him from continuing his 20-year role organising teams for the two-yearly Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival.

Seven players from the Magpies and one from Geraldine's Raukapuka Roosters will join a 24-strong South Island team called the Mainland Kiwis, which will travel to Edinburgh next month for the 17th Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival.

They will be among 120 teams from 19 countries at the festival, which will be held from September 1 to September 8.

Some readers may ask why on earth the players, who are aged between their mid-40s and mid-60s, are still playing rugby.

‘‘Some think it sheer stupidity,'' Mr Parke said.

Mr Parke has been president of New Zealand Golden Oldies since 1999. ‘‘We play for the love of the game and the camaraderie that goes with it.'' The camaraderie at the international festival was hard to comprehend, he said.

Like the Mainland Kiwis, a lot of teams went to every festival so it became a reunion. ‘‘We go for some rugby and a great old social week.''

Golden oldies rules make allowances for their advancing years - there is no pushing in scrums, only the team with the put-in can hook the ball, and no kicking is allowed outside your own 22.

Mr Parke said the team, who with their supporters numbered 55, would leave on August 17.

Some had already left, either to visit children living overseas or to go sightseeing in Europe.

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