TAUPO, SITUATED on the biggest lake in Australasia, is a tourist town and so, as elsewhere in New Zealand, the local community are “stoked” to have the Irish and South African squads staying hereabouts this week. The town relies heavily on tourism but, sadly, the decline of rugby is symptomatic of the stunning problems King Country especially and rural rugby in New Zealand are now experiencing.
“Rugby is dying in rural areas,” according to former Leinster and Ireland centre Kurt McQuilkin, who is now based in Taupo. Back in the mid-’80s, he points out, Taupo had 12 rugby clubs, including eight top-graded clubs, but now there are only two, Taupo Sports (who remain a grade A club) and Taupo United (grade B).
“All the best players are either poached or migrate to the bigger unions and cities,” explains McQuilkin, who cites the example of the best school player from last year who is now playing with the Wellington Colts. “Either that, or they stop playing after leaving school.”
McQuilkin is working as an RTÉ Radio co-commentator and rte.ie analyst for the duration of RWC 2011, and has been something of an unofficial liaison officer for the Irish squad. This week especially, in his home town of Taupo, McQuilkin has been catching up with former coaching and playing colleagues such as Alan Gaffney and the dozen players he worked with at Leinster until a year ago, while last night he was hooking up with former team-mate Trevor Brennan in a mix-and-meet hour with Irish ex-pats.
McQuilkin hails from Te Kuiti, about an hour and a half away, where his parents Noel and Josie live, as does Colin Meads, who happens to be his godfather.
McQuilkin followed his father to Bective Rangers in 1995, going on to play with Lansdowne and Leinster, as well as winning five caps with Ireland during his five years playing there.
Hence, were the All Blacks and Ireland to run into each other in this World Cup, as with all previous meetings since his first stint in Ireland, McQuilkin would have no split loyalties as to who he’d support. “Ireland, without a doubt. So would my parents. They bought into Ireland as much as I did. That would not be an issue.”
Having returned to Ireland as first an IRFU development officer and then a highly regarded defensive coach in Leinster’s 2009 Heineken Cup win and Magners League win in 2008, McQuilkin decided to take some time out from rugby. He and his Irish wife Barbara wanted to raise their daughters, Ella (10) and Lilly (seven) in the Kiwi outdoor way of life and opted for Taupo (population 25,000) rather than his home town of Te Kuiti (pop 5,000).
“Coming from Dublin, or Bray, Te Kuiti would have been too much of a culture shock for the girls.” As an example, he cites the sailing lessons and water ski-ing which Ella has already taken up in summer time on Lake Taupo (the lake is the same size as Singapore) as well as the mountain ski-ing in winter time.
A relatively lively town in midweek by New Zealand standards, featuring several Irish bars, and national flags from competing World Cup countries whose squads have visited or are visiting here, McQuilkin describes Taupo as a “transitional town” and a “retirement town” as well as a tourist town.
McQuilkin watched many of his former Leinster charges train at his old King Country stomping ground of Owen Delaney Park yesterday. The facilities are excellent, with the main pitch of six in the council grounds having two stands, one covered, and a natural, grass-banked bowl effect.
There are also four sizeable changing rooms, with medical rooms attached to each of them, and it is also a cricket ground.
Named after an Irishman who was a hugely influential rugby figure in the region, the Springboks held an open training session on Monday, which was attended by several hundred schoolchildren, and certainly the game could do with any profile which the World Cup can help to generate.
In 1982, King Country hosted the Springboks in what is now Delaney Park, with 18,000 in attendance, and a year later they hosted Auckland in the Ranfurly Shield in front of a crowd of 16/17,000. They had won promotion to the then NPC first division in 1991 under Kurt’s father, Noel McQuilkin, but were relegated after a troubled 1996 campaign, during which Murray Kidd was removed as head coach.
As further evidence of the ensuing decline in rugby locally, King Country languish in the heartland competition for Second and Third Division sides, and are now ranked 23rd of 24 unions in New Zealand, while playing in front of 300 to 400 supporters.
This year, along with John Mitchell’s brother Paul, McQuilkin applied for the role of head coach with King Country. He had played over 50 times for King Country, not to mention his stint with Leinster as defensive coach, but was turned down, and told that he was “too inexperienced”. “Over here, like other coaches who have coached abroad, I’m seen as an outside coach,” he explains.
With Barbara having returned to work, McQuilkin is content to be a self-confessed “house husband” for the moment, though is rediscovering the old itch for coaching. He had been offered a post with the Western Force in Perth, but that would have been too much of a disruption for his young family. “I’ve no doubt that at some stage we’ll probably go back to Dublin.”
Further highlighting rugby union’s decline, this year the Sydney-based Cronulla Sharks moved their NRL “home” game against the Auckland Warriors to Delaney Park and attracted a crowd of 18,000. Taupo was bedecked in Sharks’ colours, and to continue to promote their brand, the rugby league franchise are set to play their home game against the Warriors in Taupo for the next five years. Taupo Phoenix have felt the positive spin-offs.
Though perhaps not unique, the King Country Union appears to be fiddling while Rome burns.
