[Sevens Hair] Kurt Baker – Where’s the white?

January 19, 2010 No Comments

I have been pursuing the inside story on the white tuft of hair at the back of Kurt Baker’s head ever since he burst onto the world Sevens scene during the IRB World Series in 2009.

Like many Sevens players before him, Baker was a relative unknown in senior rugby circles at the time. He had yet to make a significant mark  as a fringe NPC player for the relative underdog Manawatu Turbos team.

But like many of his predecessors, Baker has begun his rise in the 15-a-side game.

I had cause to be in the Hawkes Bay for work during the NPC season last year and saw the Magpies beat Otago at home on a wet early evening in late September.

The Turbos were playing at home in Palmerston North the next day.

I planned to make the 2 hour drive and was grateful to have received my press pass one week earlier from the rugby union people there who were very hospitable.

The Turbos faced uncertainty in 2009 as the sword hung over 4 teams in the NPC due to the NZRFU plans to trim the premier rugby competition to 10 teams for 2010. You wouldn’t know it from the way the people and the organisation approached their rugby.

There must have been 8000 people in attendance. A local band played beforehand, during half-time and then after the game. The Tui girls served punters in the truck bar and the sun was shining.

It was a great atmosphere and a competitive game.

I got several photos of Kurt Baker and the tuft of white hair.

The people in ‘Palmy’ are nice, hospitable types. The announcer at the match invited everyone over to the member’s bar for a drink after the game so I obliged. I had to drive back to Napier and so could only have an Amstel Light.

[The barmaid's got into the spirit of things]

I got talking with a couple of local people and it happened that Kurt Baker’s mum was one of them. What a coincidence!

The first person I meet is just the person I would have asked for (if I was ever given the chance). It was the perfect opportunity to get a little background on the hairstyle her son had made famous.

While getting the background detail on the hairstyle that shook the world, I couldn’t help thinking that ‘Kurt Baker’s Mum’ would be a great voice for a behind the scenes Rugby Sevens website idea I had.

For the moment it was about hair …

I didn’t really have a chance to speak to the man himself but obliged a local fan with a photo that I sent to her mum in high resolution.

Rugby in places like Palmerston North is heart-warming stuff.

Fast forward to early 2010 and the BOP Sevens. Unfortunately none of the Manawatu stars were playing. Lote Raikubula, Tomasi Cama and Baker were all playing in the National Sevens the week after but I hadn’t planned on going down to Queenstown.

I was confident I would get my chance however and so waited patiently.

The opportunity
NZ coach Gordon Teitjens is a ‘Mountie’ and usually brings the team to Blake Park for camp before the IRB Sevens Series events.

The date of the camp was well known but the actual training session times were not.

I did some calling around to find out when the team would be training.

The folks at the Mount Maunganui Sports Club didn’t have the info.

The team would use the main ground but not the facilities as they were staying close by and brought everything they needed with them in their 2 hire vans.

After listening to Steamer’s captain Colin Bourke welcome me from a recorded message, the nice people at the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union obliged with the time slot so I took leave early and headed over.

I approached the familiar Blake Park ground from the south. I had played there for several years and am still a member of their Mount Golden Oldies so the surroundings were very familiar.

The squad were doing touch drills in the late afternoon heat.

I could make out captain D J Forbes because his beautiful bald head was shining in the sun but I did not immediately see the infamous white tuft of hair on the field and so assumed either I just couldn’t make him out from that distance or Baker was not taking part at the time.

If he wasn’t taking part, perhaps I would not catch him.

[adsense300]Was he injured?           Was he at the hair dressers?

This didn’t seem likely. I never played for Titch but knew enough of the man to know that he would not have taken too kindly to players missing training to get their hair done.

So where was Kurt Baker?

I walked closer to get a better view.

Arriving at the side of the ground where the team was based, I was approached by team manager, Ross Everest who politely inquired as to my intentions.

He was keen to have things go ‘by the book’ so I obliged by calling the NZRFU Communications Manager explaining what I was doing there.

She called me straight back after checking out my websites (AtTheSevens.com and RugbyHair.com) and gave her OK to take photos and interview Kurt Baker if it was OK with management and Baker himself.

By this time two facts became obvious.

Firstly, Baker was participating in the training session.

Secondly, he had been to the hair dressers – only it was just earlier in the week.

The reason I didn’t make him out earlier was because the white tuft had gone!

WTF??

Was it bourgeois management stamping their authority demanding a more conservative hairstyle?

I had to get to the bottom of this one and sought the truth from team management.

Complete denial, just as I had suspected so I had to hear it from the man himself

OK, so it’s gone … and my chances of continuing to pick up more search engine traffic from fans searching on ‘Kurt Baker’ are looking grim. we hope Kurt will make a triumphant return to the hairdresser and came out with something fitting his brand.

We eagerly await the results.

Tags: Kurt Baker, Manawatu Turbos, Sevens RugbySevens Style