If anyone in Australia ever dares suggest one of our rugby sides could better a Kiwi outfit, it’s taken as fighting words from across the ditch.
Rugby is a religion in New Zealand and the All Blacks’ dominant record over the Wallabies is the foundation for a universal Kiwi conviction that any claims of Aussie superiority aren’t just misguided, but are outright blasphemy.
But what about when it’s coming from a Kiwi?
Jake Leck is the man who is set to make ears prick up in his home country with his claim the Bull Sharks Colts 1 side is as good as any you would find in New Zealand.
“I think we’ve got an unreal team that would do very well in any Colts competition even over in New Zealand,” Leck said.
“Our forward pack is next level, and our back line is pretty stacked too. We’ve also got depth in pretty much every position.”
Leck took his time embracing the national past time. In fact he admits he didn’t even like the game when he first started out as a kid.
“I honestly hated rugby probably till under 13s. I was terrible,” he said.
“I also played basketball and almost went with it over rugby, but my dad was like, ‘That's not happening,’ so I stuck with rugby.”
And he didn’t exactly make an immediate impact when he first walked into The Canal either.
Colts 1 head coach and former All Black Rico Gear admits he had his doubts.
“He was probably a little bit slow to start off, just finding his feet, but he has grown into the loose head role,” Gear said.
“We had a few question marks there in those early rounds, but he just slowly started to form combinations with the likes of Blaze (Moana) and Jonah (Rangiwai).”
Leck has now settled into being a key player in Bond’s dominant Colts 1 side, who finished minor premiers last week at the completion of the regular season.
“His scrummaging is really good, his set piece is strong, he can run the ball and is pretty mobile and can play a bit like a loose forward at times,” Gear said.
“That is a good thing to have when you have got someone who can back up the looseys in that role.
“His fitness is good and his work rate is good too, so he becomes our main man there.’’
The 18-year-old started to see the opportunities rugby could provide when he made a Crusaders U18s side to take on the Hurricanes last year.
“I remember sitting in the room and thinking,‘If I don’t make this team, it’s OK – I can just go home’.
“I ended up making the team and I was like ok ‘maybe I can actually do this,” he said.
What followed were offers from American universities to play and study in the States, but he thought it was a bit far from home and the standard of rugby wasn’t strong enough.
“I knew of the Gear brothers, and when Mum saw that Rico was coaching at Bond we decided to reach out,” he said.
“I came over here to have a look and the facilities were better than what they had at the Crusaders in New Zealand.”
He decided to enrol in a Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science degree at Bond and try his hand with the Bull Sharks.
“Coming to Bond was the best move I could’ve made,” Leck said.
“Rico actually cares about your wellbeing off the field, and is a good bloke.
“I want to win because I feel like you can’t let him down.
“We like to have fun in Colts 1, but we also really want to win. I couldn’t play for a team that doesn’t care about winning.
“The environment at the club is pretty unreal. There’s four teams in the finals so it’s a good club to be a part of this season.”