At 33 and with knees not exactly ageing gracefully, Patrick Osborne is revelling in maybe one last run at a New Zealand provincial rugby title in his first season with Waikato.
The former Fijian international and proven winner on the Kiwi scene has been a key member of the Waikato squad that has powered into a surprising second spot on the Premiership standings heading into the final four weeks of the regular season.
The strapping wing is very much the senior member of the Waikato backline – though not the Mooloos squad, given the presence of the 36-year-old Liam Messam and 38-year-old Adam Thomson – as they’ve carved their way to an impressive 5-1 record heading into Sunday’s clash against Taranaki in Hamilton.
“Everybody is doing their jobs properly and the boys are enjoying the trainings, being around each other, learning off each other and feeding off each other as well,” said Osborne of what’s turned into a bonus situation in the Waikato.
Earlier this year Osborne was contemplating his next move back home in Christchurch, fresh off knee surgery on the back of an ill-fated attempt to link up with Leicester in the English Premiership. He got the procedure done just before Covid struck, spent lockdown in rehab mode and by May was fit enough to contemplate another campaign.
Then Waikato coach Andrew Strawbridge came calling, looking for a veteran type to lend some experience to an otherwise young backline, and the easy-going Fijian did not exactly need his arm twisted.
Though he had played all of his New Zealand provincial rugby hitherto with Canterbury (with whom he won five Premiership titles), he had familiarity with Hamilton after spending a championship-winning season with the Chiefs back in 2013.
Osborne played most of his Super Rugby with the Highlanders (51 games from 2014-17), including a prominent role in their 2015 title-winning campaign, and had three seasons in Japan with Kubota Spears before his stint in England ended in a one-way trip home to New Zealand.
“My knee just couldn’t cope,” he tells Stuff. “It didn’t agree with the weather. It was just too cold.”
More agreeable has been Waikato’s campaign thus far, with last Sunday’s 16-15 upset of his old Canterbury side in Christchurch taking them just a point behind the pacesetting Aucklanders.
Osborne credits Waikato’s surprise resurgence (they were sixth in last year’s Premiership) as being the result of good coaching, excellent preparation (“The boys have been training pretty much since end of Mitre 10 last year”), some youthful enthusiasm and an excellent work ethic.
“It’s just ingrained in everyone here to work hard and you’re seeing it on the field. I’m happy to see these young boys stepping up and everybody who’s had a chance has grabbed it with two hands,” he said.
“We’ve got heaps of young boys, and they’re willing to learn. When one of the old boys talks, everybody takes it in and works with it straight away. Everybody buys in real quick.”
Osborne’s repaired knee is coping well enough – though this week he’s been dealing with swelling in his other knee. “I think the 89 minutes [against Canterbury] was a bit too much for the old knee,” he quips.
The powerful wing also has nothing but admiration for old-stagers Messam and Thomson who are setting such a great example up front.
“Adam is the oldest, but he’s had more games than me and Liam at the moment. I think it’s his food – he’s gone vegan or something.”
Having done the hard work thus far, Osborne says the Mooloos are locked in to a strong finish to give themselves the best possible chance for a crack at the title.
“We’re in a good spot with four games to go. After this we’ve got Auckland (away), Bay of Plenty (home) and Northland (away). We need to treat every week from now as a final. We have to travel for the last game and you don’t want to be travelling twice into a semifinal.
“We’ve been saying since the start of the season we’re going 12 weeks, so we’re going to make that final.”
Beyond this campaign, Osborne has nothing locked in, but admits a Super Rugby gig in New Zealand would fit the bill nicely.
“We’ll see what the body feels like after this season, but I’m taking it week by week. I would love another run at Super, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But you definitely don’t want to be travelling too far at this time.”
Osborne’s wife and three school-aged children are in Christchurch, which he says is tough but part and parcel of being a professional sportsman.
“I got to stay one extra night in Christchurch after the game, which was good as it was my daughter’s birthday on Tuesday. I miss them, but we video call every day and I still help put them to bed.”
He also has his parents and two brothers in Fiji and reports that despite the pandemic his home country is doing just fine. “Whatever happens around the world, Fiji is always happy and nothing seems to faze them.”
It’s a credence Waikato’s veteran wing is happy to adopt himself as he manoeuvres for yet another New Zealand provincial title.
THE SUNDAY TICKET – Mitre 10 Cup
2.05pm: Tasman v Southland, Trafalgar Park
2.05pm: Counties Manukau v Wellington, Navigation Hopes Stadium
4.35pm: Waikato v Taranaki, FMG Stadium Waikato
