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 12 September 1931
Click to show A now-famous trophy is seen for the first time
The NZ Governor-General in 1931 was Lord Bledisloe. His donated trophy was decided in favour of NZ by 20-13 at Eden Park in Auckland.
A-Z of Rugby
Click to show CAKOBAU, GEORGE
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.
10 Questions to well known sporting people
Today's KQ Rugby Quiz
Which club supplied seven players of the 1971 British and Irish Lions touring team to New Zealand - five of whom played all four tests?
What do you think?
Click here to show the answer.