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| Birth name | Ian Andrew Kirkpatrick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1946-05-24)24 May 1946 (age 78) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Gisborne, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 102 kg (225 lb; 16 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | King's College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Farmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ian Andrew KirkpatrickMBE (born 24 May 1946) is a former New Zealandrugby union player. Described as "supremely athletic, fast, fearless and with an uncanny sense of anticipation",[1] Kirkpatrick is widely regarded as one of the greatestflankers to have ever played the game. His try-scoring ability was astonishing; at the time Kirkpatrick played rugby, it was rare for forwards to score tries, but his 16 test tries were an All Black record untilStu Wilson surpassed it in 1983. He also captained the All Blacks and was inducted into theWorld Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014.
Kirkpatrick grew up in a farming community.[2] He followed rugby from age 10.[3]
Kirkpatrick attendedKing's College, Auckland where he was in the First XV from 1962 to 1964, helping the side win the 1A championship in 1963. He was first XV captain and head prefect in 1964. Additionally, he was the school boxing, sprint, hurdles and pole vault champion.[4]
Kirkpatrick worked as a farmer.[3]
Kirkpatrick began his first-class career in 1966 at the age of 20 playing forPoverty Bay. One year later he moved toChristchurch and established himself in theCanterbury team. Later that year, he made his international debut for the All Blacks againstFrance in Paris.
In the first test of the1968 series in Australia in Sydney, a game equally remembered forColin Meads' crude attempt to clear Wallaby scrumhalfKen Catchpole from a ruck, resulting in a horrific injury to Catchpole, Kirkpatrick came on as a 22nd-minute replacement for the captainBrian Lochore, who had broken his thumb.[5] He thus became the first All Black to be used as a substitute according to the newInternational Rugby Football Board regulations[6][7] With his only warm-up being the run down the stairs from the reserve seats, Kirkpatrick scored a hat-trick of tries in a 27–11 victory.
Tours toSouth Africa were sometimes cancelled due toapartheid during this time. Kirkpatrick has said he was “never comfortable” with apartheid but adopted the position of many leading players at the time and that playing South Africa was the “ultimate challenge”.[4][8]
In his career Kirkpatrick was one of the first names on the All Blacks team sheet,[citation needed] playing a then-record 38 consecutive tests for the All Blacks.[5]
In 1971, he was a part of thePresident's Overseas XV that was chosen to play againstEngland to celebrate the centenary of theRugby Football Union, scoring two tries in the 28–11 win atTwickenham. Later in the1971 Lions series, he would score one of his most famous tries, a 55-metre solo effort in the 22–12 victory in the Second Test in Christchurch.
Kirkpatrick was appointed All Black captain in 1972 and led the1972-73 tour to Europe and North America, a tour memorable for the controversial expulsion ofKeith Murdoch (which Kirkpatrick would call one of his biggest regrets)[9][3] and theBarbarians' famous 23–11 victory atCardiff Arms Park.
By the time he retired early in the 1979 season, Kirkpatrick had played a total of 289 first-class games and scored 115 tries. He is to date also the only man to have captained both islands: the South in 1969 in his last season with Canterbury and then the North (in 1972–73) when he had returned home to Poverty Bay. He also appeared in 33Ranfurly Shield matches for Canterbury.
Kirkpatrick has said "Our general farm work, which varied a lot from shearing sheep to fencing, certainly kept you fit and kept your weight down. We would do a little bit of exercise above that in summer, but not much."[3]
In the1980 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kirkpatrick was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire, for services to rugby.[10]
In 2003, he was inducted into theInternational Rugby Hall of Fame.
In May 2020 he was named New Zealand Rugby's patron after the death of Sir Brian Lochore in 2019.[11]
Kirkpatrick has been called 'one of the greatest blind-sides of all time.'[12]
From 2005 to 2010 Kirkpatrick served as a part-time mentor with theHurricanesSuper Rugby franchise.[13]
In 2020, Kirkpatrick expressed his concerns for the physical wellbeing and welfare of modern rugby players.[13][4][8][14]
In 2020 and 2022 he expressed additional concerns about the direction of rugby, including the gladiatorial nature of the game, the massive emphasis on defence, less open play, and the need to be physically big and strong. He expressed concerns that the physicality of the modern game was behind a major dropoff in playing numbers at schools level.[8][14]
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by | All Blacks Captain 1972–1973 | Succeeded by |