Chairpersons Update
Well, what a weekend and congratulations to our Premier and Division 2 teams for making the finals of the CMK Club Rugby Championships.
Our Premier Team took out the CMK Premier Championship 2020 33-29 finishing off the season winning every game and now the club has won 17 Premier Championships. Because of COVID19, there was no option to have spectators at the ground but Tukapa as a club supported the teams via live streaming and the Chook House was near to limit of the COVID gathering restrictions.
Club supporters gave the Premier team a rousing reception when they returned from TET Stadium with the Championship Trophy. You can watch the response below:
All games were close with our Division 2 just missing a win with Normanby coming out the winners 13 - 11.
Limited Edition Championship Winners 2020 T-Shirt
Limited Edition Championship Winners 2020 T-Shirt is now available so get in quick.
Orders to be in and paid for by Friday the 28th of August.
(Delivery towards the 11th of September).
$25.00 100% polyester quick dry tee.
Kids sizes: 4 years - 16 years
Adults sizes: Small - 3XL & 5XL
Email or message Grant to place an order. (invoice will be issued for the payment to confirm order).
grant@kingsway.co.nz
Prize Giving Postponed
Due to COVID19 we have had to postpone the club prize giving until 26 September and we will send out more information once we have the format confirmed.
Tomorrow night (Friday) the Chook House Bar will be open for a Finals debrief so I look forward to seeing you there. Once again we will be complying with COVID rules and protocols.
Junior Rugby Postponed
Unfortunately, Junior Rugby is also postponed until we hear the result of the next COVID status Level. We will keep you posted.
Our Man Jeeves: RIP
Brian Charles (“Jeeves”) Holdt was a legendary Tukapa club stalwart who passed away last week at the age of 77.
Born into a staunchly Blue & White family, Brian was the son of Walter Holdt who joined Tukapa in 1932 and who was followed a year later by his brother Syd, with youngest brother Roy joining the club in 1945.
Together these three Holdt brothers established a family legacy of devoted commitment to the Tukapa club.
Brian’s membership at Tukapa began in 1954 and he was in turn followed by his brothers Dennis and Alan. Brian played through the grades and at 19 began his 10-year spell in Senior club rugby from which he was chosen as a lock to play for Taranaki Colts and Taranaki B.
For Brian, the undoubted highlight of his long rugby career in the Senior A’s was being part of one of Tukapa’s most celebrated golden eras when his team, coached by Pat Doherty, won 3 championship titles in 4 years, these seasons being 1966, 1968 and 1969.
In 1966, whilst still playing for the Senior A’s, Brian joined the Management Committee of the club and he later stepped up to the role of Treasurer, a position he held for nine years. From 1982 till 1992 Brian was a Vice President at Tukapa while, at the same time his wife Colleen was active on the Ladies Committee.
More recently, Brian has been a loyal and passionate supporter of the Senior A’s in particular. He would never miss a home game and was always on every Supporters Bus to away games along with other members of the Holdt family and his many Tukapa mates.
All of us regulars up at Tukapa will greatly miss “genial Jeeves” and his friendly banter. Our sincerest condolences go out to Colleen and the wider Holdt family.
The following article appeared in the NZ Herald 12 Aug 2020
The First XV of classic New Zealand rugby clubs: Tukapa
12 Aug, 2020 3:00pm
4 minutes to read
By: Dylan Cleaver dylan.cleaver@nzherald.co.nz
Tukapa Rugby Club
Established: 1892
Home ground: Sanders Park
Province: Taranaki
Naturally, Star was Tukapa's biggest rivals throughout much of their history, but the former lost their identity when they merged to form Spotswood United.
"Tukapa has always retained its own identity," says stalwart Lindsay Thomson, a lock who played 160 games for Tukapa and 104 more for Taranaki between 1983 and 1993.
In recent decades Thomson says the rivalry with Old Boys has emerged as the preeminent New Plymouth derby as they are often each other's biggest challengers for the title.
The enmity is also based on the affiliation Old Boys has with New Plymouth Boys' High School, traditionally the province's leading rugby talent nursery, while Tukapa has "in the past 10 to 15 years" developed a connection with nearby upstart Catholic boys school Francis Douglas Memorial College, home of the Barrett brothers.
To solidify that Catholic association, Tukapa joined the Marist sports association, though there is no overt religious element at the club.
So it's a successful club with a rich history, but there are many clubs like that dotted across New Zealand and, indeed, Taranaki.
What elevates Tukapa to "classic" status is a chicken or, more specifically, a song about a chicken; surely the most curious and well-known (in some quarters despised) club rugby song in the country.
Go on, find yourself a quiet space, shut the door behind you, and give this a whirl:
Oh, that chicken! That cast iron chicken, I never knew a little bird could sing, sing, sing Till it started humming, "Tukapas are coming", And it danced the Highland Fling: Gor' Blimey. When we're passing, down by the meatworks It brings back memories Of that cast-iron fowl, that the Tukapas found On the plains of the Waimate Tukapa, He, He, Ha Tukapa, He, He, Ha Moturoa, Mikotai, Paritutu Moturoa, Mikotai, Paritutu He! Ha! Tukapa!
Well, where do you start with that jumble or words? The most accepted story of the song's origins involves a trip to Manaia to play Waimate (now one of three clubs that merged to form Southern) in 1902.
Tukapa arrived in the south Taranaki town and went for a pub meal before the match. The host prepared a chicken meal that went down very poorly. The birds were said to be so tough they were hard to chew and impossible to digest.
The powerful Tukapa XV subsequently lost a match they were expected to win and the post mortems on the bus trip home identified a scapegoat, which turned out to be a scapechicken.
"We no doubt had to blame something," Thomson says. "It's a big part of our club and we use it to celebrate. The song is what makes us unique and I suspect it's also the reason other clubs like to beat us."
That's the bit we haven't mentioned yet. If you aren't Tukapa, you tend to hate them.
"Us and Old Boys are the teams the others love to beat because, I think, we're seen as the flash city slickers with our big clubrooms." Love Tukapa or hate them, you can't deny they're a classic Kiwi footy club.
Lets Close the Week with the Mighty Blue and White call
Blue and White For Life - Scotty your Chairperson
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