Stalwart of southern rugby memorialised by competition, shield
Pip Jones, of South Otago, holds up the new shield which bears the name of her father, Otago rugby great Tuppy Diack, who died recently. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH
A former Gore man, who died last month, will be memorialised through a new rugby competition and shield.
The Tuppy Diack Shield will make its debut this season.
Diack, who died in Dunedin, aged 94, played for both Otago and Southland.
He also played one test for the All Blacks, in 1959.
Born in Invercargill, he was once the head boy at Gore High School.
The former winger was revered and in a fitting tribute,
Southland Country, Southland Metro, Otago Country and two Dunedin metropolitan teams will contest a new competition for the Tuppy Diack Shield.
It will be a straight round-robin, attached to the end of the club rugby season. The opening round will be on August 2.
Otago Rugby Football Union game development manager Michael Smith said it was a great shame Diack had died before he got to see the competition in action.
However, Diack had been aware of the idea and was very pleased to put his name to it.
The wood the shield is made from is from a fallen totara tree in the Catlins area and was carved by Patrick Bowden and members of the South Otago Turners Club.
The tree was understood to have been about 1000 years old.
"It's a great bit of wood," Mr Smith said.
The new competition was a way to bridge the gap between club and provincial rugby, as well as offering players who missed out on representative opportunities something else to aim for, Mr Smith said.
After the competition an Otago B and Southland B team will be selected for a triangular tournament that will include a Canterbury team. — APL
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