All Black Great has died
 

Sad to hear of the passing of All Black great Andy Haden https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/new...ectid=12351938.

I had the 'honour' of playing against him once- Grammer v Ponsonby Reserve grade. Andy was testing out a pulled hamstring, which was the only reason I got to play against him- he just towered over me in the lineout.

A nothing game, but Andy still was on the Refs back the whole time. After the game, we went back to the Ponsonby Club rooms for a beer, the Whetton twins turned up (Their Dad was our Team Manager) & Andy shouted the table a round of beers as they reminisced about past All Black Games.

Seems a lifetime ago. 🙁

May he rest in peace.

Thanks for sharing your great memory of him.

Many thanks for that.

Another article worth reading: https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...cks-great?rm=a

In New Zealand, the All Blacks are the pinnacle of sport & society, as a kid growing up, I watched Test Matches in which Andy Haden & Frank Oliver (also sadly passed away), the All Black Locks, were tough men & superheroes to us kids. To then get to play a game against them was just incredible. This type of thing happened prior to the game going professional- I played with & against many All Blacks, & I was just an also-ran - nothing more.

With Rugby now professional, players of my (non) ability don't get the chance to play with & against All Blacks anymore- as they rarely play club rugby- and the game is poorer for it.

I have a close friend who grew up in Rotorua. When we both lived in Hong Kong, he educated me on the finer points of Rugby and of course, the majesty of the All Blacks.

He is very envious of your memories. He only played rugby up to university. He found love, got a job in Australia and ended up in Manchester England. But he has never lost his admiration and pride in the All Blacks.

Rotorua is about 4 hours drive south of where I live. Thats 'Chiefs' Territory (Super Rugby Team) https://www.chiefs.co.nz/

I played with & against about 20+ All Blacks, and I felt very old when the last one I played against retired from rugby (Sean Fitzpatrick).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Fitzpatrick

I played aginst him at School boy 1st XV rugby back in 1981. He was a prop in those days, & I saw him eye gouge our prop in a scrum (Sean pushed the limits!), so I punched him in the head, to which he just laughed at me & I copped a heavy punch from him on the chin, dislocating my jaw! A Zambuk (nick name for a St Johns Ambulance Paramedic) fixed it by smacking my jaw back into place & I kept playing. My Jaw still clicks from the punch soo many years ago. The Ref ignored us, guess he thought we had sorted it out- nowadays we would both be Red Carded.

Now you know why I took up Karate :-)