KeithQuinnRugby
Thinking and talking about rugby every day for 50+ years
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MY TAKE ON SOME OF THE RUGBY NEWS STORIES WHICH COME INTO MY WORLD.
Was there ever a smaller test rugby player than this man? Yet he played in one of the toughest test series ever!
The Smallest Test Rugby Player Ever?
9 January 2015
Browsing through rugby things in the New Zealand summer (as you do!) I found this amazing shot of Tommy Gentles a Springbok test halfback from 1955-58. (see attached photo) Get a look at how teeny this man was! The records show that he stood 1.60metres tall (that's about five feet 3 inches. His weight was a little over 57kgs = 9 stone. The photo was taken before a rugby test match in 1955 when Tommy made his debut against the touring British Isles team. Dare I suggest rather than in the dressing room as the caption for the photograph suggested it was taken perhaps in a studio before the official team photograph. But I met this man... Read more »
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The match day programme from the best game of rugby i ever saw.
The Greatest Game of Rugby I Ever Saw. Read about it here!
2 January 2015
People often ask me ‘what was the greatest game you ever saw?’ As a young reporter I used to say it was the magical King Country v Hawkes Bay game for the Ranfurly Shield in Napier in 1968 (Colin Meads’ King Country team just got pipped by Kel Tremain’s Magpies by 19-16; 8 tries in the game! – a real thriller!) (To put that into perspective for you, you ought to know I had been born in Te Kuiti and King Country was then ‘my’ team!) But nowadays for my ‘bestest’ game I always go back to the glorious memory of the All Blacks v South Africa game in Pretoria in 1996. There was so much at stake that day and the game more than matched its expectations. Read more »
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Always Check Out my 'Favourite Photos' site here. There's a Story behind every Shot!
27 December 2014
www.keithquinnrugby.com started in August 2014 - and one of best parts is delving into my collection of photos, clippings and pictures from the game's glorious past (and present). I put up a new pic every week or so - and give you the reason and relevance as to why I have kept the shot so long. Just click on this 'Favourite Photos' link on the top of this page and scroll down them all. Read more »
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Always jot down and keep a good quote! Here are my memorable ones from 2014!
15 December 2014
From my reading of books, papers and magazines in 2014; from watching TV or sitting in a movie house or just plain listening to people yarning there are always quotes to jot down; Here are some of my favourite 'Quotes' (on any subject) from 2014 (Jotted down in my notebooks in no particular order): (And, by the way I've also jotted down the WORST sports commentary quote of the year. It's at the bottom of the page!) ..... Read more »
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The All Blacks test record in 2014: Players and Scoring
29 November 2014
NEW ZEALAND RUGBY TESTS in 2014 Read more »
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The New Zealand soldiers of World War I dressed like this man did for us at Messines in 2014. And then posed with the 1980 All Black captain David Loveridge.
This week I stood on the spot where some All Blacks died nearly a century ago.
11 November 2014
As tour leaders of the Wiliiment Sport Travel groups in UK and France this winter (mostly following the 2014 All Blacks) Dave Loveridge and myself, with our wives, had been acutely aware that the inclusion of a 2-day breakaway trip from London to northern France and Belgium would be particularly poignant this year. 80 supporters were down to visit familiar battle sites for New Zealand war historians; places like; Messines, Passchendale and Ypres. Read more »
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Every day there is Rugby History 6 October 2007
Click to show All of New Zealand shouted 'forward pass!' - but France got the victory.
It was tough times for the ABs at the Rugby World Cup in Cardiff. The alleged 'forward' pass by a Frenchman led to a try - and New Zealand headed homewards.
A-Z of Rugby
Click to show VAN VOLLENHOVEN, TOM
VAN VOLLENHOVEN, TOM
Northern Transvaal and South Africa
7 internationals for Sth Africa 1955–56
Acclaimed as a man who might have become South Africa’s finest wing, van Vollenhoven indeed fashioned a reputation as a great try-scoring wing – but it was for St Helen’s at rugby league.
His international rugby career was cruelly brief. After his debut as a centre against the 1955 Lions, van Vollenhoven moved to the wing and promptly became the first player to score three tries in a test in South Africa. In the second test in Australia the next year, he kicked a dropped goal – it was only the second time he had ever attempted one – but his form fell away in New Zealand and while he played eight of the first nine matches, he played only the third test.
The crew-cutted van Vollenhoven was reckoned to be inconsistent, but there was nothing unreliable about him in the matter of scoring tries. In his 19 matches on that long tour, van Vollenhoven scored 16 tries, but was such a natural and instinctive player that selectors found him difficult to fit into a team pattern.
He certainly proved them wrong, or misguided, with St Helen’s.
10 Questions to well known sporting people
Today's KQ Rugby Quiz
Dr Danie Craven is often called 'The Father of South African Rugby' - what was he a doctor of?
What do you think?
Click here to show the answer.