By Mark Quinlivan

It's been a memorable rugby season in South Canterbury with the sport moving beyond the field to an anti-violence campaign, huge small town support and honouring one of the region's most loyal fans here, as Mark Quinlivan reports.

Modern rugby is still more than just a game in many communities despite it now being a global sport.

South Canterbury rugby clubs proved as such in 2018 with plenty of action off the field, as well as on it. While the South Canterbury Heartland rugby squad made the Meads Cup final, losing to Thames Valley 17-12 at home last weekend, only the second time the green and blacks have made the competition final since the Heartland Championship was introduced in 2006, there has been even more to celebrate this season.

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South Canterbury rugby mascots Tim and Ru.

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South Canterbury Rugby Union chief executive Craig Calder, left, White Ribbon Ambassador Steve Wills and Ron Vink from White Ribbon.

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Sir Michael Jones was impressed with the South Canterbury Rugby Union's community engagement when he visited Timaru in July.

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Celtic were nine-time defending Hamersly Cup champions heading into the 2018 South Canterbury rugby season.

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Waimate's Thomas Bulfin takes a tackle during the Hamersley Cup Senior Final against Celtic at Alpine Energy Stadium in Timaru.

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Waimate painted the town blue and red ahead of the club's senior rugby final against Celtic. Shelley Medlicott, left, and Jan Jeffery from Shampers Salon got behind the campaign.

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In the 2018 South Canterbury senior rugby final, Celtic showed why they have now held the crown for a decade.

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Tributes flowed for former South Canterbury and Pleasant Point rugby player Tony Fatai, who died in a workplace incident in Tonga in June.

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Former South Canterbury captain and three time All Black triallist John Phillip Gallagher has passed away in Timaru aged 92.

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All Black Joe Moody, right, presents the Hanan Shield to South Canterbury captain Nick Strachan after their win in the Heartland Championship match between South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury in September.

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The green and blacks routed East Coast 100-7 mid-way through the Heartland Championship.

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It's been a memorable rugby season in South Canterbury.

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South Canterbury after losing the Meads Cup final. losing to Thames Valley 17-12 at home last weekend.

When Waimate made the finals of 2018 South Canterbury senior rugby competition in July, the town got behind its team, transforming into a sea of red and blue to support their men. While they were pipped at the post by Celtic, 25-22, they did their small town proud.

READ MORE:* Support key to rugby campaign * The brink of something special * Painting it green-and-black * South Canterbury crush King Country * Home semifinal for South Canterbury * Powerhouse South Canterbury captain remembered * Tough challenge for South Canterbury * Fetu to notch up a century

South Canterbury Rugby chief executive Craig Calder said it had been a memorable year for the union.

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Brent South has been remembered by the South Canterbury Rugby Football Union with a seat dedicated to his memory.

"It was clearly evident with the support the local teams got - particularly Waimate and Celtic in that final," Calder said.

"Who could ever forget a crowd of 4500 people."

Veteran sports journalist Stu Piddington, who has been covering rugby in the region for more than 15 years, said rugby is part of the fabric of the communities throughout South Canterbury, especially in the likes of Geraldine, Temuka, Fairlie, and Waimate.

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A week after upsetting reigning Heartland champs Wanganui, fourth-seeded Thames Valley came from behind to shock South Canterbury 17-12 in Timaru last Saturday.

"When their teams play well there is a buzz about it," he said.

It was before the year's rugby season had even begun that the South Canterbury Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) started to make a stand.

In March, the union unveiled a community support project against domestic violence that was implemented in April.

More than 50 people from 11 rugby clubs attended a meeting in Timaru in March which outlined the union's plans for a campaign to stand up against domestic violence in the community.

It appeared the campaign was a timely one. After it was launched, police revealed to Stuff they had issued 318 safety orders in South Canterbury between May 2017 and 2018 - with 50 people served multiple issues in that period.

On average South Canterbury police attend 30 family harm episodes a week, Stuff was told.

In May the union donated 10 mobile phones to the police, as part of its Stand Up campaign, drawing on the sport's strong influence in the community. The phones were to be given to victims who have no way of calling 111 in the event of a domestic violence incident.

Rugby clubs keenly jumped on board the anti-violence campaign, Waimate taking the first stand.

The country rugby club hosted a "Family Respect and Responsibility Day" in July.

In the same month, the campaign was enough to impress one of the greatest All Blacks of all time - Sir Michael Jones, who walked out on to Alpine Energy Stadium 33 years after his first-class rugby debut on the very same ground.

Jones, a New Zealand Rugby Board member, was in Timaru for a series of speaking engagements, and told Stuff "being in South Canterbury, spending some time with [South Canterbury Rugby chief executive] Craig Calder and the good community here - the good people of South Canterbury is fantastic".

"I'm just really impressed with the work that's happening in South Canterbury."

Calder said Jones' passion for heartland rugby was felt when he came to the region.

He said there was a lot of family focus by the union this year.

At the start of the season, any thought that Waimate would be leading Celtic who were, at the time, nine-time defending champions of the Hamersley Cup competition, would probably have been unthinkable.

But Waimate were the deserved leaders and proved to be the surprise package of the 2018 South Canterbury senior rugby competition.

And it wasn't just their rugby that got them there - camaraderie, mateship, and most of all, their loyal supporters helped carry them to the final.

When Waimate beat Temuka at Alpine Energy Stadium in the semifinal and booked a final showdown with Celtic it had been 21 years since Waimate had made a Hamersley Cup final, but the town certainly hadn't forgotten how to support its top rugby side.

The town was awash with red and blue, businesses stringing up streamers, filling windows with balloons and old rugby jerseys and showing their allegiance to their team.

Celtic's 25-22 victory - the team's 10th title in a row - further cemented their spot in New Zealand club rugby history, as the most successful club in the modern era when it comes to consecutive club titles.

Only Southland's Star Rugby Club have managed a better record, notching up 16 straight titles, but they started their run way back in 1888.

Mid-way through the season South Canterbury Rugby said it had had enough of antisocial sideline behaviour and was taking action.

The union launched a campaign which gathered nationwide attention - employing independent match day observers or "spies" to visit random games on Saturday, in an effort to put an end to sideline abuse - namely against referees.

But, as always, a season of highs often comes with lows as three sons of South Canterbury Rugby were farewelled.

Brent South, who died in February aged 65 following kidney failure, always sat next to the tunnel at Alpine Energy Stadium to watch his favourite team - South Canterbury - run on to the field.

South sat in the same seat at Timaru's Alpine Energy Stadium for 25 years and was remembered by the South Canterbury Rugby Football Union with the spot dedicated to his memory.

Tributes also flowed for former South Canterbury and Pleasant Point rugby player Tony Fatai, who died in a workplace incident in Tonga in June.

Fatai, who turned out for Pleasant Point 80 times, also represented South Canterbury nine times in 2008.

Another man who was farewelled was former South Canterbury captain and three time All Black trialist John Phillip Gallagher, who passed away in Timaru last month aged 92.

Widely known as 'JP' Gallagher, he played 28 games for South Canterbury, having earlier represented North Otago.

A power house of the scrum, he played lock for North Otago from 1947 to 1951, with the latter two years as captain.

The class of 2018 South Canterbury Heartland rugby squad set out to do these men proud and it looked like it could be their year early on. In the pre-season, they tasted victory against Otago B for the first time in four years.

And mid-way through the season the dream of winning a maiden Meads Cup title looked even more on the cards. One of the more memorable matches coming against East Coast at Alpine Energy Stadium, where the green and blacks routed them 100-7 - the first time they had ever notched up a century in first class rugby.

Sixteen tries and 10 conversions against East Coast was enough to rewrite history.

South Canterbury had only got close once before, 20 years ago when the Kevin Gloag coached side humbled North Otago 94-7. Current coach Barry Matthews and technical adviser John Simpson were part of both occasions, playing halfback and blindside respectively.

While there were two hiccups along the way - losing their first up match in a physical battle with defending champions Wanganui, and being upset by Wairarapa Bush, a strong finish to the season presented the green and blacks a home semi-final and becoming a step closer to achieving the dream.

South Canterbury crushed King Country 58-21 in one semifinal and were hot favourites to win the title at home against Thames Valley, who ended Wanganui's hopes of four straight titles by beating them 17-7 in the other semifinal.

So, it would all come down to one match. The semifinal results meant a new name would be engraved on the Meads Cup as Thames Valley had never made the final, before while South Canterbury's only previous appearance was when they were beaten by Wanganui in Timaru in 2015.

Only Matt Fetu, Miles Medlicott, Strachan, and Kieran Coll, were survivors from South Canterbury's maiden Meads Cup final four years ago.

A Meads Cup crown would top off a massive year for veteran skipper Nick Strachan, who also led his club, Celtic, to its 10th consecutive South Canterbury senior rugby title.

But, it wasn't to be, falling at the final hurdle.

A week after upsetting reigning Heartland champs Wanganui, fourth-seeded Thames Valley came from behind to shock South Canterbury 17-12 in Timaru last Saturday.

While it wasn't the scripted ending for what had been, arguably, one of the most memorable season in South Canterbury Rugby history, there's no doubt the green and blacks faithful will return next season to see if Celtic can be knocked off their perch, and to watch their representative side do battle for the famous Meads Cup trophy.

Calder said to be second and play the way the team did throughout the season was still a fantastic achievement.

He said another highlight of the season was the growth of the women's game in the region.

South Canterbury has plenty to be excited about with the future of the women's game, with former Craighead First XV captain Lucy Anderson receiving a late call-up into the Black Ferns for their northern hemisphere tour, and the likes of Timaru Girls' High School's Jorja Miller, already experiencing rugby on the world stage, heading to Europe in September to play sevens for the Invitational New Zealand Dutch Barbarians.

Piddington said like 2015, it was a great run to the final. He said another highlight of the season was when veteran South Canterbury front rower Matt Fetu played his 100th game.

"It is disappointing that the game plan that got the team to the final was not executed on the big occasion.

"As for the best season, it has to still be 1974 when my father drove to Blenheim to watch South Canterbury lift the Ranfurly shield."

Article added: Saturday 03 November 2018