Amid the heart-felt eulogies that have been given since Jack Hobbs untimely passing this week, another great All Black’s death seems to have gone under the radar in world media coverage. I am talking of the passing of Richard ‘Tiny’ White (a neighbour of my relatives in NZ) who passed away in Gisborne home at the age of 86 this week.
Richard was ironically nicknamed ‘Tiny’ due to his tall frame as a lock forward, dwarfing team mates at the time, standing 1.88m tall. This of course would not be considered tall in the current game, but he was a man mountain of a player during his time.
‘Tiny’ represented Poverty Bay and was capped 55 times for the All Blacks between 1949 and 1956. Renowned for his unbelievable fitness and work in the tight/lineout (which allowed him to play 30 of the 36 tour matches of the UK and France in 1953/54), White’s rugby career came to a sad and painful end when he was infamously kicked in the lower spine by a South African at Eden park in 1956. The player had thought that he was Kevin Skinner. This injury left him unable to continue playing, suffering from a paralysed hand as a result. The event was one of the historic talking points of NZ and South Africa’s epic rivalry and a particularly confrontational tour. Years later the South African player (who had previously been unknown) admitted his guilt on TV, and apologised for the atrocity he committed.
Following White’s forced retirement, he continued to farm locally as well as eventually becoming Mayor of Gisborne. A true New Zealand hero, Richard ‘Tiny’ White will be sadly missed.
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