Owen Todd - Rugby legend heading for 100

He’s managed legendary Southland Rugby teams and eyed up many an up-and-coming All Black during his rugby administration and selector days, but it’s bowls where rugby legend Owen Todd, 99, left his mark in Queenstown.

Owen not only managed the Southland Rugby Team to its historical Ranfurly Shield draw with Auckland in 1976, but was President of the Southland Rugby Union, manager, and Southland and New Zealand U18 selector during his 1970s and 80s prime. His mini Ranfurly Shield takes pride of place in his room - walls adorned with Southland Rugby memorabilia, at Queenstown’s Arvida Country Club rest home.

Turning 100 next July, Owen vividly recalls every yarn as if it were yesterday.

All that rugby leadership aside, his most memorable personal sporting victory was in his 80s cleaning up with two mates – Bill Johnston and Dave Weir – average age of 80, at the Queenstown Bowling Club Triples Championship.

“We qualified for the final playing three top club champions,” Owen says. “There wasn’t a dog show in hell that we’d win – three underdogs playing three champions and at our age, but we won it!”

“Geez, it was late home that night,” he grins. Owen got the trophy engraved, their ages too.

A former committee member, he wrote the Queenstown Bowling Club’s 100-year history book celebrating 1904 – 2004.

While sporting accomplishments were proud moments, 23 January 1950 was his most memorable day. “Marrying Ray at St John’s Church in Invercargill was the greatest moment of my life.”

Sadly, wife Ray passed away in 2015 after 65 years of happy marriage.

Childhood sweethearts, they met at Invercargill’s South School: “I sat up the front with the dummies, and she was the dark-haired brainy girl up the back,” Owen grins.

Owen’s dad transferred to Balfour where Owen continued school. “That’s where I got introduced to rugby, watching it over the fence,” he says. After moving to Gore, Owen worked as a butcher’s delivery boy before and after school on his bicycle. But it was the intrigue of the men making things with metal at the blacksmith’s shop next door that inspired his 44-year career as a mechanical fitter-welder.

The family moved back to Invercargill where Owen played for the South School Rugby Team, selected for the Southland Primary Schools Team to play Otago. “We gave them a thrashing. There were three of us from our school and the headmaster made the senior class stand up and clap for us.” Then at playtime “the dark-haired brainy girl” (Ray) gave him a dig in the back and said, ‘Good on ya!’

At 12 during World War II a World Boys’ Brigade Jamboree in Wellington was downsized to the ‘Southern Hemisphere’ due to safety threats. “We went by train and boat. No lights were allowed on the boat at night in case the enemy spotted them. A huge passenger liner was loading soldiers to take them to war. It was scary alright.”

Head prefect at Southland Technical College, Owen took on an apprenticeship at J.K. Stevenson Engineers, working his way up to shareholdings.

His voluntary rugby administration began on the Invercargill’s Blues Rugby Club Committee, now a Life Member for almost 50 years, the club’s oldest. Owen was star of the show at the Blues 150th anniversary last year and organised Southland’s annual Rugby Life Members Club gatherings, attending his most recent one three years ago.

Before long he’d been nominated to the Southland Rugby Union by two NZ Rugby Union members and was off managing the Blues team trip to Australia.

He was also a Southland and NZ U18 selector.

A dad of three, each time he was nominated he’d say, ‘I’ll have a yarn to my wife’. “She always said, ‘Go for it!’. I owe her so much. I couldn’t have done any of it without her fantastic support, and that of my family,” Owen says.

Chairman of Southland Rugby’s Grounds Committee for the 1981 Springbok Tour, Owen’s highlight was meeting Errol Tobius, the first coloured member of the Springbok team. “Errol told me some of his own team seldom spoke to him, which was really sad. He had his own separate manager.”

As Southland manager Owen had to keep the boys out of strife, like the time Southland Juniors got into a brawl with bikies in Blenheim.

“I had three cops in my senior team, so I had to let them go help. When the others heard what had happened I couldn’t hold them back despite the hotel manageress’s warning to stay at the hotel.” Two guys – a player and liaison officer, ended up in hospital. “It was all over the 6 o’clock news!”

Many happy years were spent at their family crib in Queenstown Camping Ground – ‘Toddle Inn’, Owen and Ray retiring to Queenstown in 1985.
Owen enjoyed bowls and Ray golf. Owen did fluke a Hole in One in Wanaka once though.

Both he and Ray volunteered for Meals on Wheels.

Owen’s met some “marvellous people” and always encouraged the younger generation.

As for those two newest great grandsons, well, hopefully they’ll grow up to be Stags.