Jack of all trades, rugby fan mourned

A man who died after a fight at the weekend was an avid rugby fan, his cousin says.

Ephrame Ronald Waihape, 40, was unable to be revived when found at a Flaxmere property on Saturday.

Cousin Syd Maaka said Mr Waihape had an extensive knowledge of rugby, including on international teams.

"He was the man," he said. "You could just turn the TV down and listen to him - he was a good commentator."

Mr Waihape had been in between jobs when he died, but he was someone who could make "anything turn into a dollar".

"We worked on the boats, he would chop firewood to sell, he worked on the roads. He did seasonal work - he was between jobs.

"He would make anything turn into a dollar, like chopping firewood, picking puha, even going up to Rotorua and sitting on the side of the road with our apple sign."

It was believed he had three children and many brothers and sisters, but his parents were deceased.

Hawke's Bay CIB detective Senior Sergeant Dave de Lange said yesterday police were awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination.

There were two other people at the house at the time of the man's death and police were not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident.