Tyral Vigne to play 100th Premier match for Petone

Above: Tyral Vigne lunching at the line earlier this season against Marist St Pat's. This coming weekend, he plays his 100th Premier match for Petone against Wainuiomata.

It's taken nine seasons and this weekend one of the nice guys of club rugby, Tyral Vigne, will play his 100th Premier match for the Petone Rugby Club.

No one could ever describe the South African born prop as being flashy, but he has been the ‘go to’ man for the different coaches he has played under, never complaining when being sent back to the B's, always stepping up when required, sometimes even filling in at hooker and always doing the job asked of him.

Working full time in the fitness industry has helped his rugby and many times his strength has been underestimated by opposition players. A solid and technical scrummager, Zulu, as he is known by his mates, is also a very sound defender.

Like his Dad, he played soccer in his home city of Cape Town, but had to change codes at his rugby-only High School. His first coach was 1981 Springbok front rower Shaun Povey.

Tyral toured New Zealand in 2000 with the Rondebosch Boys High School. One of his memories was playing against a Rotorua Boys High 1st XV featuring an impressive Liam Messam.

A year later Tyral arrived in New Zealand with his Mum Moira, Dad Albert, and his two sisters. Albert started his first job and asked his new work mates which would be the best club for his boy? The answer he got was, "It’s a no brainer, Petone is the only club to play for."

The seventeen year old Tyral started his NZ rugby career playing for the Petone Colts team then he honed his skills in the Senior First side. The Petone Premiers had a wealth of outstanding props at that time with Neemia Tialata, Glenn Japeth, Thomas Tupuivao, Moe Soutar, and Hoani Tui all plying their trade in the Village. This meant Tyral had to be very patient, spending a few seasons in the B's before he made his Premier debut.

But it was well worth it when he got the late call-up to replace an injured Hoani Tui in the cauldron of a McBain Shield match. 

Tyral was forging a reputation as a very good Senior First prop but Premier games were limited to appearances off the bench. This meant that he had played well over fifty Premier matches before he received his blazer for twenty starts.

One match Tyral remembers well was against Poneke on the weekend Petone were celebrating its 125th anniversary. A serious knee injury during the match meant he missed all the festivities and the following two seasons. What made it even worse was he was at home just across the road from the clubrooms and could hear all the music but was unable to attend.

Tyral’s Premier appearances have been more regular in recent seasons and when playing on his preferred loosehead side is very rarely overpowered. One surprising fact is that Tyral has never played rep rugby.

Tyral’s partner Elise is at most matches to cheer her man on, while his Dad Albert has only missed a handful of his son’s games.

At 31 Tyral believes he can play for a few seasons yet and is confident the current batch of young players will mature into a real force in Wellington club rugby and the elusive Jubilee Cup will be back in the cabinet it is most familiar with sooner rather than later.

Even though he calls New Zealand home and will never return to live in his native country he remains a Springbok supporter.

'It's hard to find the perfect club man'