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8 May 2015
It is known that 13 All Blacks died in World War I. Three All Blacks died in Flanders Fields, Belgium. This year on a tour with my wife and friends I visited the three headstones of those who fell in Flanders. This one was at the Underhill Cemetery, near Messines in one direction and Ploegsteert on the other. (The Kiwi soldiers and others called it Plug Street in the same way the town of Ypres became 'Wipers' in mis-pronunciation.) The Underhill Cemetery was so named because it near to a spot that Kiwi tunnelers began to dig to undermine the German held town (of Messines).
The Inglewood-resident wing forward Reg Taylor died on the slopes leading up to the town of Messines. You will note his burial site is neat and ordered. That's because he was injured first and taken to a Medical Station. (Which is now a modern farm building you can see beyond the cemetery) When Reg passed away his body was taken outside and buried in an orderly row. By comparison to others he rests in a small but eternally peaceful place. It was moving to go there and see where one of New Zealand's early rugby stars lies now so quietly.
Reg was an All Black in 1913 for two tests against the touring Australian team in New Zealand. By 1915 he was en route to Army service in what was to be called the Great War. As a Lance-Corporal he died on 20 June 1917.
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A great day for NZ at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Sean Fitzpatrick and John Hart's team silence the ghosts with a 33-26 triumph.
CAKOBAU, George
1 test for Fiji 1939
A distinguished player and official with Fijian rugby, George Cakobau began his playing career in the years prior to World War II. He toured New Zealand as captain and an outstanding five-eighths with the famous unbeaten Fiji team of 1939. (Another member of that team was Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, who became Governor-General of his country and who played a major part in the negotiations following the military coup in 1987.)
Ratu Sir George Cakobau’s prominence in the administration of Fijian rugby marks him as one of the fathers of the game in that country. He was the Fiji Government’s representative on several tours in the 1950s. He was also a Fijian team coach and manager of various Fijian touring teams from 1951 until 1969.
A grandson of the last king of Fiji, he was a long-serving politician, rising to the rank of cabinet minister. In 1972 he was appointed Governor-General of his country.
Cakobau (pronounced Thakombow) was also a Fijian cricketer.
How many players of Samoan-birth or Samoan heritage have captained the All Blacks in tests? Name them.
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