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The grand old Wellington ground had to go but NZ said goodbye in great style beating France 54-7.
BEDELL-SIVRIGHT, ‘DARKIE’
Cambridge University, Edinburgh University and Scotland
22 internationals for Scotland 1900–08
1 international for Great Britain 1904
One of the first men in rugby to gain a reputation for being a tough, hard-nosed footballer, D.R. Bedell-Sivright (spelled Bedell-Sievewright by some historians) was a vigorous forward (and a Scottish heavyweight boxing champion), perhaps a forerunner of the tough men of later generations.
There were some who disapproved of Bedell-Sivright’s uncompromising methods, considering them ‘ungentlemanly’. Nevertheless, he built an excellent record in the Scottish forward pack.
He was chosen as captain of the Great Britain team that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1904. Winning that position ahead of an Englishman was perhaps the greatest tribute paid to ‘Darkie’, as the team was chosen by the (English) Rugby Football Union.
Bedell-Sivright, whose brother John also played for Scotland, was for a time a stock-rearer in Australia. He died of blood poisoning at Gallipoli during World War I.
Which New Zealand Tennis Sponsor's representative always included two of his 'own' invented words in his speeches at the Heineken Open prize givings in the 2000s - and what were the words?
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