Interview with Glen Jackson

Glen Jackson with the Ranfurly Shield 2004 - photo from the NZ Herald

After helping to win the Ranfurly Shield with the Bay of Plenty Steamers in 2004, Glen Jackson moved to England to play for Saracens for 6 seasons. The BOP Mafia polled the members and then sent him an email of questions about the Shield victory - here are his answers.

At the start of the 2004 season, did you think the Bay had a squad to be as successful as you were?

I thought our season could be a good one, but I also thought a good one for the Bay would be mid-table!

The signing of Rua was massive as he was a class player who brought plenty of experience.  It proved to be the difference from a good season to a great season.

Everyone on the terraces knew you were going to nail the conversion after Tahana's try.  Were you as confident as the masses?

I had been kicking pretty well during the game and things were going my way but I was pretty tired and it was obviously a big moment.  I really took my time and concentrated hard on technique, as soon as I kicked it I knew it was going over.  It’s still the happiest kick of my career.

You took a great intercept that led to your try in the challenge match – what’s the secret?

I don't really know the secret; maybe it’s that I’m not a good tackler!!!!  I’ve really struggled to get them over here in the UK.

I've definitely had a couple of good ones for the Bay, the Shield challenge and Counties at Tauranga domain!!!

Which performance of 2004 was the team most proud of? Wellington win? Harbour win? I'm picking it wasn't the game in New Plymouth!

The Naki game was always going to be a tough one for us after Auckland, Waikato and plenty of beer!

I think the biggest and best win was the game against Wellington. They were a super outfit with plenty of good players and were in good form. 

It was at a time where we could've been complacent, we had won and lost the Shield, we had thrashed Otago, our season had already been successful. 

It would've been easy to roll over and accept 6th or 7th place.  We played really well that day and showed some fantastic defence, it showed how tight we were as a squad.

When you moved back to play for the Bay did you ever think you would win the Shield / make the NPC semis?

It wasn't a tough decision to come back to the Bay, I grew up there and I had always considered it my home, Waikato offering me $5000 for the season, after I'd played 49 games just made the decision easy (hence making the shield game against Waikato even sweeter).

Our first game back in the big time we beat Wellington, in Wellington which made the decision a stroke of genius!  Losing every other game apart from Counties made it possibly a stupid move - but we stayed up and I loved every moment of being back in the Bay!!  

I knew if we stayed up we would become a team that could go places for a couple of reasons, one, Bay schools have always produced quality players, but couldn't keep them, and this was beginning to change.  Secondly I knew the Mount would be a massive draw card for people to live in.  

Thanks to Bob Clarkson it became a great place to play in, as well as Rotorua!!

Did you expect a thrashing when heading down to Christchurch for the semi-final – a bridge too far scenario?

We never expected a thrashing, but we had a few injuries and the boys were out on their feet.  Canterbury were nearly the All Blacks, and at Jade Stadium they were always going to be tough.

We were totally outplayed, but I still remember we scored the last try which was another back line first phase try.  Thanks to Joe Schmidt we scored the most first phase tries out of all the teams in 2004, and to score one (untouched) against the All Black back line was something to take out of the game.

Memories of the trip home to the Bay with the Shield?

The whole Shield win and evening was a bit of a blur!  With it being a Sunday we were struggling to find somewhere to go, so I suggested my place - the boys didn't need a second invitation!

It was a long night and all the boys had a good time, Toops (Paul Tupai) brought some brothers from Te Puke way and we had an awesome night with plenty of singing and cheering!!

But I think the biggest memory was waking up Monday morning and heading to Tauranga with Ben Castle, Simms Davison, Mark Sorenson and myself for breakfast and cracking straight back into the beers!

It was one of those days that doesn't mean to start out like that, but turns into a cracker!  The whole of Tauranga was a-buzz and we had all sorts of people stopping in for a beer.  SOS (Mark Sorenson) was still in his number ones from the night before!!

Then Eva from the Sports Cafe had tracked us down and made our afternoon even better.  God knows how we beat Waikato 4 days later!!

At what time during the game did the thought go through your head "we're going to win this" - or similar? I know on the sideline when I was taking photos - it was from your try when I thought, "this is bloody on for a win here"!

I was on the bench in ‘96 when we lost to Auckland in the last second for the Shield, so I didn't feel at any stage we were safe until I got that conversion, hence why I acted pretty stoked!  The lead changed so often that it never felt like we were safe.  

What's the story about Simms Davison on the walk-around on Eden Park the day before the match, missing a high kick and copping it on the bonce?

We had a team run on the Saturday which was going well until Simms wanted a couple of up and unders, God knows why!  He misread one and instead of catching it, it landed right in the middle of his head!!  It my have been a good thing as all 35 players and management were left in hysterical laughter, a real tension breaker!

What was your favourite moment of the Challenge? 

The best moment of the game was when we gave away a penalty in front of the posts on full time, and they chose to kick for goal. I was standing next to Cashy, and he was yelling all sorts of things at his former team mates, I'd never seen the old boy so happy!