Dungannon man who spent 23 years at New Zealand boarding school and coached some of world rugby's best players gets spectacular haka send-off

He told the News Letter of his pride at spending more than 20 years at the school with strong ties to Northern Ireland.

The school was founded by James Dilworth, born in 1815 and educated at the Royal School Dungannon.

He was one of many migrants who left Ireland for Australia and New Zealand in the late 1830s. Upon his death in 1894, aged 79, without children of his own, he left most of his considerable estate to establish a boys-only boarding school – the Dilworth Ulster Institute.

Described as one of Dilworth’s best, Ally left the school to start afresh in Australia having worked his way up to the position of director of boarding.

He’d come to the school as a fresh-faced international tutor in 2000.

Discussing the haka and leaving ceremony, he said: “It was pretty emotional. One of the biggest things for me leaving Dilworth was the connection with the Royal School in Dungannon.

"Every year we’ve got the tutors come over, I feel like a bit of surrogate dad to them.

“I’ve always felt that connection to home at Dilworth, the boarding houses are called Dungannon, Tyrone, Armagh. I just named the last two which are Donaghmore were James Dilworth grew up and Aghalee where Isabella Dilworth (James’s wife) came from.”

He continued: “I stood on the stage for my last speech and said the most important thing for me and what I want everyone to hold true to is the connection between back home and Dilworth remains and that people hold it strong.

“I decided I was going to walk from the stage to ‘Sweet Caroline’, but before I even got to it, the applause just blew me away, it hit me like a tonne of bricks.

"My wife and kids were there, I walked down into foyer of the hall, wiping away the tears, trying to stay strong for the boys.

“I always organise the haka for when staff leave, I’ve seen a lot of hakas in my day but this one knocked me for six. The intensity of it. Some have commented that they need to slow it down, it’s too fast.

"Hakas are supposed to be a bit slower but when there’s emotion in it that’s the speed you’re going to get.”

He added: “After the haka was quite cool. We’ve got a choir who sang the day before at the regional competition. One of the songs they sang was ‘Carrickfergus’ (an Irish folk song based on the Co Antrim town).

"They’d been practising and they’d ask me to come in to see about pronunciation and stuff – I haven’t a note in my head so it wasn’t about the harmony.

"They walked me back into the foyer after the haka. In a semi circle were 20 boys from the choir singing ‘Carrickfergus’. I sang with them. That was special too. That connection to back home.”

Ally has coached some of the best rugby players

Having tasted rugby glory with Royal School Dungannon, Ally Patterson has gone on to coach some of the top players to come out of New Zealand.

He recalled: “My crew at Dungannon, it was the first time in something like 95 years that we won the Medallion Shield, we’d high hopes of doing something big, but it didn’t get any better than that – it’ll be 30 years next year.”

He added: “Rugby back home is different to rugby in New Zealand and rugby in Australia is different again. As a coach what I do is just try to figure out how they do things and try to bring in a little bit of what I’ve learned over the years.”

Asked if any of the players he’d coached had ever played for the All Blacks, Ally said: “As rugby first XV coach at Dilworth I was with Angus Ta'avao, the first All Black From Dilworth.”

Angus also played for Dungannon Rugby Club when he went in the opposite direction as an international tutor.

Ally, who was a PE teacher at Auckland Grammar for five years while at Dilworth, said: “At Auckland Grammar, in my second year as a head coach of the first XV, which was like Methody, I had Rieko Ioane and Akira Ioane (brothers who played for New Zealand).”

Ally has also coached The Chiefs’ Shaun Stevenson, The Blues’ Kurt Eklund, Western Force’s Toni Pulu, as well as Pita Ahki of Toulouse and formerly Connaught.

"I still touch base with them every second week, congratulate if they’re doing well, give them a bit of grief if they’d had a bad game.

"There’s a connection with those guys.”

Hard to say goodbye to Frank

“It’s been a full-on couple of weeks,” said Ally who on the day of the interview was trying to buy a car, a washing machine and a fridge as well as enjoy the sunshine.

Ally will be employed at Southport School, which will also have boarders.

He said: “I got an approach last year from them about was I keen to come across, it got me thinking. I’ve been at Dilworth for a long time.

“I went over for one year, 23 years later they couldn’t get rid of me so I had to leave myself.

“It was time for a change.

"I didn’t want to be one of those people who has done 50 years or something stupid like that in the one place.”

He added: "I’m mindful of the balance – making sure I’ve a bit of my time and kids and wife time.

“I didn’t think it was balancing as well as it should have been.”

One family member that did have to get left behind in New Zealand was Frank the dog.

The much loved boxer was like a fourth child alongside Taylor, 14, Lucy, 11 and Cooper, eight.

Ally said: “He couldn’t come with us. He’s almost about to turn nine.

"The next door neighbours said they’d take Frank, when he was handed over there wasn't a dry eye.”