OBU’s Gina Williamson closing in on a century of games
All going well, openside flanker Gina Williamson will become the third Old Boys University Impala to reach a century of club appearances in a fortnight against Oriental-Rongotai in a re-match of last year’s women’s championship final.
She will join fellow OBU club legends Claire ‘Shorty’ Rowat and Hiria McCrae as an Impala Centurion, the former she credits as being a catalyst for joining the club a decade ago after moving north from her home town in Dunedin.
“I had already spent one season playing for Kaikorai in the Otago competition,” Gina explains. “I then came up to Wellington when I graduated at university for a job, and one of the first things I did when I got up here was hunt out a rugby club and I found Claire and Trapper [Dave Loveridge] and OBU!”
This was in 2009, so this is her 10th year with the club. How has the women’s competition evolved since then?
“It has gone through waves over the past 10 years. I played some seasons where there were six women’s teams, I think the most in any one season was 11, so it has ebbed and flowed. It would certainly be exciting having the women’s competition sustain that many teams.
“I am not sure we have managed this yet, but I think the union is heading in the right direction, focussing on the development of junior girls and schoolgirls and we have a bright future.”
Gina joined OBU not long after they had last made the final prior to last year when they met Ories a week after beating Northern United in a semi-final thriller at Porirua Park.
“That semi-final against Norths was a spectacular game, and the moment that final whistle went and Monty [Montana Heslop] scored that try and Tara [Tara Horsnell] kicked that conversion I had to admit rather than running and jumping around the girls I was just basically paralysed on that field. Just full of pride that our girls had played to the very last second of that game and put everything on the line for it.”
OBU won the semi-final 19-17, fullback Heslop slicing through out wide and scoring to the right of the uprights following an attacking scrum. First five-eighth Horsnell made no mistake of the conversion to complete the win.
Ories won the final 63-8, running away with it in the second half after leading 16-0 at the end of a hotly contested first half.
“The following week it was such a privilege running those girls out on to that field for the final and to see the first half performance the Impalas produced was phenomenal.”
Gina also says that the fact the OBU club had four of its teams competing in the finals was special. “The club camaraderie and the OBU one-herd mentality were really on show that day.”
Gina has forged a reputation as a hard working openside flanker over the past several years but started her playing days elsewhere.
“I started as a lock, but when I was first selected in the Pride I was told you are not a lock, you a flanker and that’s what I have been since.”
As well as playing and working full-time, Gina has started a new role as the club’s Women’s Rugby Development Officer.
“The purpose there is to look for ways to grow and develop women’s rugby at OBU and also to help women’s rugby in general in Wellington – how do we attract women into the game and how do we encourage those talented schoolgirls as they transition from college to university or work and support their development on and off the field? That is what this is about.”
On the field, Gina has no immediate plans to stop playing, an injury sustained at the tail-end of last season firming up her love of the game.
“I tore my hamstring in a Pride game during the FPC last season and that took me out for seven months until recently.
“I was a bit nervous getting back on to the field but the moment I did I realised how much I still love playing this game, the intention is to keep playing and as long as I can keep up with the young girls I will give it my best!”
This was her first serious injury since she first joined OBU. “My great introduction to Wellington rugby was injuring my shoulder in my first OBU pre-season, which put me out for six weeks.”
She also broke her nose in a clash with Ories centre and Pride teammate Bernadette Robertson a couple of years ago, plus “the odd twisted knee here and there and dislocated fingers.”
Gina has a background in a range of sports growing up in Dunedin and attending Taieri High School (now Taieri College).
OBU’s season in 2018 hasn’t really got going yet, not helped by being defaulted to on Saturday by Avalon.
“OBU has the challenge of quite a high turnover of players relative to other teams, part of being a University club. We have got a lot of new players into our team this year and we are just building as a team. I think when we click on the field together we will be away.”
Some new players include Larissa Lima from Counties Manukau and the Heat NPC team and Chloe Te Moananui from Canterbury, while Montana Heslop in her second year is vice-captain and Charlotte Chivers has moved from the backs to lock.
Former star centre Georgia Daals is still over in Japan and regularly keeps in touch with the team.
The Impalas train on Monday and Wednesday nights at Boyd Wilson Field and the club gets together down at the Cambridge and by supporting each other on the sideline.
This coming weekend, they play Hutt Old Boys Marist before tackling Ories in what is likely to be Gina’s 100th match in Wellington women’s club rugby.