abnutta's Contributions

Is this the same poor Jaap Bekker who kicked a prone Tiny White in the spine, ending his career? "In my day there was a weird sort of code of honour which said you could punch a guy in the face but you couldn't kick him in the head". - John Kirwan Skinners and Bekkers actions need to be placed in context. The 1956 series was war. There is brutal footage of those teams going at each other with all sorts of "questionable" niggle. - A head high-flying forearm/shoulder charge by Ross brown on a Springbok as he clears the ball to touch - A Springok kneeing an All Black in the ribs as he scrambles on the loose ball - Bill Gray getting kicked in the head. The fact remains that Kevin Skinner had already established himself as New Zealand's finest prop forward to that date. In those pre RWC days All Black reputations were established on major tours, either by the Lions/Springboks to NZ or to the British Isles or South Africa. Usually participating admirably in just one such tour could add you to the pantheon. Skinner did so in four. To SAF in 1949, the Lions in 1950, to the UK in 1953/54 after which he retired and then coming out of retirement to "sort out" the Springboks in 1956 which whether you like it or not just cemented his status as the greatest ever AB prop forward behind only Ken Gray.

McCaw is one of the five greatest All Blacks ever

5 May 2012

In 2005, I had a conversation with Bob Luxford the curator of the NZ rugby museum and one of the ranking selectors. Apparently the selectors ranked their 100 independently of each other and the final ranking was determined by a simple averaging of their respective rankings. He was shall we say "bemused" at the final rankings of 5 particular All Blacks. In his opinion: Kirwan (10) and Ross Brown (29) were ranked higher than he thought they should have and Jimmy Hunter (32), Don Clarke (36) and Ron Jarden (44) should have been top 10.

McCaw is one of the five greatest All Blacks ever

5 May 2012

For the record, I didn't select Skinner or Brownlie. The selections were based purely on the rankings (from 1 to 100) that were conferred by, what is IMHO the most credible and authoritative selection panel that could have been assembled at the time. Rugby historians, New Zealand's finest ever rugby journo's, people who had seen, in the flesh, every player from the early 1920's upto the early 2000's. This was not a magazine/newspaper readers/internet fanboy/average joe blow/random former All Black panel etc. poll you see wheeled out every few years or so. The top 20 in order were: 1. Colin Meads 2Maurice Brownlie 3. George Nepia 4. Bert Cooke 5. Ken Gray 6. Bob Scott 7. Bruce Robertson 8. Ian Kirkpatrick 9. Tiny White 10. John Kirwan 11. Michael Jones 12. Kevin Skinner 13. Kel Tremain 14. Mark Nicholls 15. Sean Fitzpatrick 16. Sid Going 17. Billy Wallace 18. Zinzan Brooke 19. Grant Fox 20. Christian Cullen I merely compiled the selection by placing the highest ranked player in each position. For instance Maurice Brownlie was the highest ranked loose forward at (2). Having played under the 2-3-2 scrum system he would be the modern day equivalent of a Blindside Flanker. Ian Kirkpatrick was the next highest ranked loose forward at (8) and although he did play a lot at Blindside he did also play on the Open especially in the early part of his AB career. Ken Gray (5) played the majority at tighthead as did Skinner (12) but Gray could and often play at loosehead and so Skinner gets the Tighthead. Billy Wallace (17) is remembered as the first in the royal line of AB Fullbacks but played a vast amount of the 1905/06 tour on the Wing so gets the other spot ahead of possibly Cullen (20) who was the only other AB in the top 20 who played wing at test level (albeit briefly). Zinzan Brooke (18) was the highest ranked specialist No.8 and so gets the spot ahead of other loose forwards in the top 20 who also played tests at No.8, those being Michael Jones (11) and Kel Tremain (13). Mark Nicholls (14) also played a fair amount of AB rugby at both 2nd/5 and Centre so it's debatable whether he should get the nod at 1st/5 ahead of Grant Fox (19). It should be noted that the ranking was compiled prior to the career of one D. Carter and whilst McCaw was in the very early stages of his career. IMHO if the same panel were to convene today the top 20 would more than likely read 1. McCaw 2. Meads 3. Brownlie 4. Nepia 5. Cooke 6. Gray 7. Carter 8. Bob Scott 9. Bruce Robertson 10. Ian Kirkpatrick 11. Tiny White 12. John Kirwan 13 Michael Jones 14 Kevin Skinner 15 Kel Tremain 16 Mark Nicholls 17 Sean Fitzpatrick 18 Sid Going 19 Billy Wallace 20 Zinzan Brooke (with Grant Fox and Christian Cullen shuffling down).

McCaw is one of the five greatest All Blacks ever

5 May 2012