No. 69 May 2013 From the EDITOR – JP/Julie Patterson
ANDY ELLIS CELEBRATES 100 SUPER GAMES IN STYLE
Andy Ellis added to his legend status when he played his 100th game for the Crusaders against the Blues recently. He had a great game to mark the occasion and it was one of the best games we have seen from the Crusaders this year.
Warwick Taylor first saw his promise at Burnside High School and says Andy just had something that you knew he could go further with. Little did he know then that Andy would become an All Black, but also be in that special group of World Cup Winners, like Warwick himself.
Andy came to the University club from Burnside, where he had transformed himself from playing at No 8 to half back when he was 15. It was this positional move that is credited with propelling him to a very successful career as a professional rugby player and this milestone – a century of caps for the Crusaders. Andy’s success is due to his competitive nature (hates losing), training hard and getting stuck in. He has a love and passion for rugby that drives him to keep achieving at the highest level. I think you can see in his smile that he has a cheeky nature which makes him a popular team and club member.
Andy has remained loyal to Canterbury since his debut in 2005 and the Crusaders in 2006. He is also a loyal University man often seen at Ilam which naturally includes catching up with his biggest fan, Gerard Cross.
Well done Andy – you continue to do us proud.

Continuing with the theme of Super Rugby – two of last year’s Div. 1 players got Super Rugby contracts (but sadly not with the Crusaders). Congratulations to Brendan O’Connor (Blues) and Patrick Osborne (Chiefs). We will watch their progress with interest.
On the international rugby stage .. the IRB recently recognised the expert skills of Nicky Inwood, appointing her to their first elite women’s referee panel. She (and her whistle) have been over controlling two of the women’s six nations games in the northern hemisphere and she is about to head to LA. Getting these opportunities overseas is a highlight for Nicky.
It has taken awhile for the locals to catch on – she was thrilled to get her first Div. 1 Men’s game appointment in the Christchurch Club competition a few weeks ago. Well done Nick / you deserve it.
I found the usual suspects at Ilam recently – Bruce Ullrich, Steve Comer, John Creighton, Ruzz Barr & Ivan Bolton with a special guest appearance by Hiroshi Sakata (who then got to help Bolty take in the scoreboard).

NEW LIFE MEMBERS
I am delighted to report that Les Black and Ruzz Barr were recently made Life Members of the club – its great to see two more great names added to this special group. Both have contributed greatly (and continue to actively contribute).
I found one of the new life members in mixed company… Ruzz concentrates on the game while Andy Ellis & Kieran Reid wonder where his shorts are … with Craig Dickson enjoying another sunny day supporting the Vipers.
A father and son story to share – Barry Dineen in 1956 had his first game of the season for Timpson’s Tigers, second game for the Div. 1 team and last game for the NZ Universities team that beat the Springboks. Maurice Collins tells us he was also in a Canterbury team in 1957 that beat the All Blacks which we think is pretty unique and impossible to replicate. Maurice caught up with his son, Mike Dineen recently (Mike is now a partner at Buddle Findlay
in Auckland). Mike played well at fullback for Varsity in 1978 when the CEO of Mighty River was absent and LMOR and Maurice coached the team.
While thinking about great coaches – we reported in our last newsletter that Demi Sakata had retired as the Osaka Taidai Coach after 36 years – the new coach is Nakatani-san. We had the sons of these great men at Ilam recently
Here is Tsuyoshi Nakatani with Hiroshi Sakata.

WHERE IS HOUSE?
Renowned try scoring prop James ‘House’ Kora is continuing his pattern with his new team -The Steamers of Albury Wodonga, who play in the SIRU (NSW Southern Inland Rugby Union) competition. House was going to retire after last year’s gut wrenching one point loss in the grand final. Happily, House and a few others getting a bit long in the tooth decided there was some unfinished business to be dealt with by way of a Premiership, so he pulled the boots back on for one last year. Unbelievably, House is our leading try scorer to date, in a team that has scored a lot of tries. The Steamers are unbeaten after 6 rounds (one of which was a bye for the Steamers) having scored 277 points for and just 50 against. An unbeaten season is highly feasible if the guys stay focussed.
Another Kiwi, Nathan Bright, captains the Steamers, and he has nothing but praise for the big House as a great club man. To quote Nathan, “House has made a significant impact with the Steamers. The beauty of House is not just his presence on the field, but also his presence off the field. He participates in all club activities, and has always been willing to pass on his knowledge to the less experienced players in our team.
(The photo shows Nathan in support of House) House has literally stamped his mark firmly on our entire competition, and is respected and feared by all clubs. He is currently leading try scorer for our team in 2013 and, given he’s a prop, this in itself tells you a lot about the man (whether that’s because he feels just as at home on the wing, or is popping out there for a rest, it doesn’t matter, because he’ll soon pop up and be in the middle again and carve a track right through our opponents).
Being a fellow former Kiwi, I have become very close friends with House, and he’s the kind of guy who makes his team mates feel good about themselves, which is often the difference
between an above average team and a champion team. I’m very confident that House will play a massive role in our team becoming a champion team this year!” Unquote. House is loving the life here in Albury Wodonga and reckons it would be a great place for any other aspiring Canterbury University players to spend a year and get a taste of regional Australia at its best.
(Thanks to our roving reporter John Black for this article)