Paul Grant once held aloft New Zealand rugby’s greatest prize but he will chase glory in another code this week — squash.
The former Otago captain helped wrestle the Ranfurly Shield off Waikato in 2013.
Otago had not held the Log o’ Wood since 1957.
Hawke’s Bay came to town and took it home with them just over a week later.
Still, it was a glorious nine days and the memory still brings a smile to his face.
The 37-year-old former loose forward has retired from rugby but certainly not from competing.
That spark still burns brightly.
He has a new outlet. He took up squash late last year and has rapidly moved up the ranks.
The Otago Squash Club is hosting the C grade national team competition and Grant will take the court when the event gets under way today.
He is part of a composite men’s team of Otago University and Otago squash clubs, which will fly the flag for the region.
A composite team of Pirates and Otago University will contest the women’s competition. They are the top seeds and very strong contenders to go back to back.
Grant is hopeful his team will be in contention as well.
"I reckon we'll do quite well," he said, adding the team had improved a lot since qualifying.
"Hopefully that gives us a good chance."
Squash might seem off-brand for Grant. But he played at primary school and was looking for something he could put his energy into.
"Once the door closes and you’ve got on court, it’s man versus man.
"You want to win the rally, you want to win the point, you want to win the game, you want to win the match.
"That's the competitive side of it. But also you are meeting people, you know, sitting around in the club, meeting some good guys, having a beer after the game if you want to."
Grant is a builder for a local firm and he squeezes squash in around his family commitments.
He and wife Monique have two young children — Harvey, 6, and Penny, 4.
Life is busy, but he is keen to see how much he can improve at squash "over the next year or so".
"But, yeah, I'm happy playing club squash and no ambitions to go too far, you know. But I want to do as well as I can at the end."
The competitions get under way at noon today and will finish up on Saturday afternoon.
