A South African and Scottish rugby fan walk into a bar…
The outcome was anything but a joke, more a love story that’s still being written some 23 years later in suburban Melbourne.
It was the 1999 Rugby World Cup when Scottish lass Mhairi came across her future husband in an Edinburgh bar.
Distraught that her brave Scots had lost to the Springboks, Mhairi was singing the night away when she first laid eyes on Stefan.
“My flatmate at the time knew some of the South African players so we were out with them after the game,” reminisces Mhairi.
“We were all in this club together and I was sat between Os du Rant and Ollie le Roux on a couch.
“My husband (Stefan) was also there and that’s when we first met.”
A mutual love of rugby would prove magnetic for the young couple and when Mhairi was offered a job in Melbourne, the globe trotting Stefan didn’t think twice about following her down under.
That was just over a decade ago, and the pair are now blessed with two young boys, Adam and Angus.
Half Scottish and half South African, there was only ever one sport they were going to play.
“When I started looking around for rugby clubs, your options were limited.
“There’s lot’s of AFL clubs, soccer clubs, basketball clubs, but there was only one rugby club in our area; Maroondah.
“I looked them up and they happened to have a ‘Come Try Rugby’ day on that weekend, so I went on down and signed them up.
“Literally, that first year when we started training together and going to games, there was only five kids.
“It was U/6s and every game we would go too we would have kids from the other team come and play for us just to make up the numbers.
“But the kids loved it and I’d even have to bribe my youngest (2 year old Angus) just to stay off the field."
Unperturbed by the lack of numbers, Mhairi remained committed to ensuring her children had access to a rugby team. Prompted by the Club President to take on an official role, Mhairi soon found herself elected the Junior Coordinator.
Entrusted with spreading the rugby gospel, Mhairi quickly adopted social media to magnify her message, sharing posts with local community groups and coercing her two boys into countless staged pics to promote the program.
The effects were telling.
“By the time the season rolled around last year, we had grown from 5 kids to 20 kids at each session.”
Sadly though, with the ages of new recruits so spread, there still remained insufficient numbers in any one particular age group to field a full team without having to borrow opposition players.
So why does Mhairi keep fighting to have her boys stay in the Maroondah colours?
“There’s one boy in particular, Nate, who came down to join us,” reflects Mhairi.
“He has no rugby background, and neither do his parents. But he is obsessed; just loves it.
“He has a single mum that he brings down to training. He makes her stand behind the posts whenever he kicks. When he’s not playing, he runs the lines.
“He just wants to be a part of something.
“I don’t want to let him down. I don’t want to let that enthusiasm disappear. I’m trying so hard to get something up and running so he has somewhere to play.
“My aim is to get that for him and get that for his team mates.
“I can’t let him down and I can’t let his parents down.”
Help Mhairi get the Griffins flying again. Training every Tuesday and Thursday night at Griff Hunt Reserve, Croydon North, at 5:30pm. All welcome.
* Maroondah Rugby Club’s 50th anniversary dinner is held on March 26. Reach out to the Club for tickets!
