Despite the fact that Taranaki have beaten the Magpies in each of the sides\u2019 last four matches against each other, that the Bulls have won the major title twice, and that they have the top points-scorer in this year\u2019s NPC, the TAB rates the Magpies the favourites to win.<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay\u2019s biggest claims to fame in the NPC are having played their very first Division 1 match, in 1976, had two years off the register during the Central Vikings NPC team merger with Manawat\u016b in 1997-1998, and having won a selection of titles in lower divisions. <\/p>\n
Taking a few moments away from the team graze after training on Wednesday, Grigg couldn\u2019t think of anything he doesn\u2019t like about Hawke\u2019s Bay rugby.<\/p>\n
While he\u2019s had the blast of playing in front of crowds of over 80,000 at such venues as Twickenham and Le Stade Fran\u00e7ais, there\u2019s not a lot that beats a roaring crowd at McLean Park, and feeling the \u201cculture and the small town vibes\u201d that go with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe supporters are great,\u201d he said, and adds: \u201cHawke\u2019s Bay was the only union in New Zealand that gave me a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grigg started to make his mark at Newlands College, which \u201cdoesn\u2019t even have a rugby team now\u201d, and played for Wellington Under 16, Under 18, and Under 20, and then senior rugby for Petone, all the time rubbing shoulders with Wellington Lions and Hurricanes players, and some All Blacks.<\/p>\n
Former Scotland international Nick Grigg, who will play his 40th match for Hawke’s Bay in Saturday night’s NPC quarterfinal against Taranaki at McLean Park, Napier.<\/p>\n
But the closest he got to the big time in Wellington was \u201ca charity game\u201d with a Wellington XV, getting the call while at an architecture lecture at Victoria University and having to call father and \u201cbiggest fan\u201d Trevor to come and pick him up.<\/p>\n
Clearly being overlooked, a teammate at Petone suggested putting together a highlights reel on YouTube, and it hit the mark when it was seen by a Scotland team analyst.<\/p>\n
Short story, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend called Petone stalwart and former All Blacks captain Andy Leslie, and Grigg was invited to a four-week trial, starting, via Stirling County, Glasgow Warriors and the Scotland Rugby Academy, a rapid ascent to international rugby.<\/p>\n
In 2015, he played the first of his 95 matches for Glasgow Warriors, was soon in the Scotland Sevens team, and, calling on the Scottish heritage of a grandfather raised in Ayrshire, made his test debut, against Fiji, in Suva, on June 24, 2017.<\/p>\n
He was in the team that beat England in their Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield in Edinburgh the following February, and the team that drew the 2019 match at Twickenham.<\/p>\n
On the trail to landing in Hawke\u2019s Bay for his Magpies debut, against Waikato on August 6, 2022, he also played first-class matches for Japanese club Red Hurricanes Osaka, Carcassonne in France and American NRL clubs Miami Sharks and Old Glory DC.<\/p>\n