Counties Manukau rugby

A South Auckland rugby sub-union affiliated to the Auckland union was established in 1926. In 1955 South Auckland Counties was formed with full union status. The name was shortened to Counties the following year and in 1996 it became the Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union. Now known as the Steelers (a reference to the Glenbrook steel mill near Waiuku), Counties established a reputation for playing fast running rugby. The All Black winger (and record-holder for the most World Cup tries) Jonah Lomu was one of a number of great players to grace the Counties backline in the 1990s.

Counties Manukau currently play in the ITM Cup, the country’s top-level professional provincial competition. Along with Waikato, Bay of Plenty, King Country and Thames Valley, Counties Manukau is part of the Chiefs Super Rugby franchise.

Great moments in Counties Manukau rugby

After finishing runners-up twice in the first few years of the competition, Counties won the National Provincial Championship in 1979. The coveted Ranfurly Shield has proved more elusive despite a number of close attempts.

Counties vs Manawatu at Pukekohe, 1980

In 1979 Counties lost 11–9 to Auckland, starting a sequence of agonisingly close shield attempts. In 1981 Counties led near the end of the challenge against Waikato only to see Waikato kick two late, controversial penalties to retain the shield with a 20-all draw. Lightning struck twice the following year against Canterbury. This was a winner-takes-all affair, with both the NPC and the shield up for grabs. For the second time in two years, Counties held a narrow lead with only minutes remaining. Robert Kururangi intercepted a Canterbury pass and with a clear run to the line it seemed that the long wait was over. It was not to be. Referee Kerry Henderson of Otago  broke the hearts of Counties players and fans by (rather dubiously) adjudging Kururangi to be offside. Robbie Deans kicked the penalty to get the Cantabs out of jail with a 15-all draw. Canterbury then swept all before them in a record-equalling tenure that would stretch to 1985.

Bad luck came in threes for Counties. In 1985 they took on an incredibly powerful Auckland team that had recently ended Canterbury’s long reign as shield holders. Auckland won 12–9, but the talking point of the game was the role of Auckland skipper Andy Haden in persuading referee Reilly of Wellington not to award what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate try to Counties’ Dave Trombik. In another case of ‘what might have been’, Auckland was only two games into what was to be a record 61-game tenure.

Following some lean years (including a stint in the second division) Counties enjoyed a revival in 1996–97 when they made successive NPC finals, losing to Auckland and Canterbury respectively. A tough forward pack led by Errol Brain, Jim Coe, Glen Marsh and Junior Paramore was complemented by one of the best backlines in provincial rugby, which included Tony Marsh (who subsequently played 35 times for France), Jonah Lomu and Joeli Vidiri. In the 1997 semi-final Counties found itself down 33-9 against Waikato in Hamilton. Confident that Waikato would host the final against Canterbury next week, the ground announcer started advertising ticket sales. In one of the greatest comebacks in NPC history, Counties came storming back to win 43–40.

Great players

Alan Dawson, with 201 games, has played more matches for Counties than any other player. Counties fans will always mention local stalwarts such as Errol Brain and Jim Coe as men who deserved higher honours. In four prolific seasons between 1993 and 1996, D.A. Love scored a record 698 points for the union. Andy Dalton captained Counties when they were at their peak. His leadership qualities were recognised when he assumed the All Black captaincy in 1981 for the controversial home series against the Springboks. A training ground injury prevented him from becoming the first captain to lift the World Cup following the victory over France in the 1987 final.

Of the 18 All Blacks to have played for Counties, the ‘elegant and gifted’ centre Bruce Robertson is one of the most respected. Between 1972 and 1981 Robertson played more than 100 games for the All Blacks. He was particularly outstanding on the 1976 tour of South Africa. The tour made quite an impact on him as both a player and a person. In the decisive fourth test which the All Blacks lost 15–14 Robertson was denied an almost certain try when he was taken out of play while attempting to regather a chip kick. The standard of refereeing on this tour left a bad taste in the mouths of many of the tourists. Robertson was also disturbed by his first-hand encounter with apartheid. His abhorrence of this racial policy saw him join the then test captain Graham Mourie in making himself unavailable for the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand. Robertson’s All Black career ended with his appearance in the Eden Park test against Scotland shortly before the arrival of the South Africans.

Jonah Lomu made his debut for Counties in 1994 and played 98 times for his home union before transferring to Wellington. He played 73 times for the All Blacks between 1994 and 2002, when illness ended his international career at the age of 27. His impact on world rugby was recognised with his induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. As a sign of how much more rugby was being played by the 1990s, Lomu played nearly twice as many tests in eight years as Bruce Robertson had in nine. Lomu became the most instantly recognisable face in world rugby and the code’s greatest drawcard. The English captain, Will Carling, called him ‘a freak’ following a number of stand-out performances at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. He scored seven tries in the five matches he played at the tournament, including four in the 45–29 defeat of the English in the semi-finals. This remains one of the greatest individual performances in world cup history. The try in which he ran straight through England fullback Mike Catt is replayed over and over in rugby promotions and is one of the enduring images of New Zealand (if not world) rugby. Will Carling spoke for many of Lomu’s opponents when he added that ‘the sooner he goes away the better’. Lomu remains the Rugby World Cup’s all-time top try scorer with 15 tries.