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Who do you think is the most inspiring figure in New Zealand rugby in their history, either living or deceased that has made an enormous difference to New Zealand rugby?
This was a question I posed to an Australian friend and his conclusive reply was as follows: “Brian Lochore. Lochore ticks five boxes: 1; All Black; 2; ABs captain; 3; ABs coach; 4; NZ administrator; 5; Incredible man of integrity.”
“I thought the other competitor to him was Fred Allen, who ticked the first three boxes. But in any case, Lochore trumps Allen I think as an impeccable human being. He also trumps Colin Meads on the same score.”
“Meads of course was the first All Black to pass 50 Tests and is still revered in NZ more than 50 years after he retired. But Aussies haven’t forgotten what he did to Ken Catchpole and whether it was accidental.”
Sir Brian Lochore. (Photo by All Blacks Collection/Getty Images)
Sir Brian Lochore was the antithesis of the flashy, celebrity rugby player, a humble, unpretentious and modest farmer with community values. A blueprint for a typical Kiwi father found in many families across New Zealand. An archetypal All Black, who when he was called up for the All Blacks in 1971 after retirement, left a brief note to his wife Pam, “playing a Test tomorrow, will call later.”
The one defining difference that Lochore possessed compared to others were his leadership qualities, the ability to lead men into rugby battles and to inspire people off the field.
When he was made All Blacks captain by Fred Allen in 1966, he used expletives during his team talks but was advised by manager Charlie Saxton to delete them and he never used them again. Lochore was surprised to be made captain ahead of other candidates including Kel Tremain, Colin Meads and Ken Gray but justified his call-up by winning fifteen matches in eighteen Tests. Sir Colin Meads said in his biography, “Lochore was everything I would want in a number eight, as a captain he could be self-effacing, for this was the very nature of the man.”
Sir Brian Lochore was born in Masterton in 1940 and dreamt of being a jockey and also excelled at tennis in the Wairarapa.
Amongst his achievements, three highlights stand out from the rest: the mending of division within the rugby community after the Cavaliers tour of South Africa and the winning of the 1987 Rugby World Cup, his leadership of the 1967 All Black tour of Europe – which became one of the great All Black teams – and his role in securing the All Blacks to the NZRFU when rugby went professional in 1995.
As campaign manager in 1987, he rallied support with the following message, “you can’t go and ask the public to support you: you have to win them over. You have to demonstrate that they are going to be proud of you, and that’s the only way you can actually win their support.”
Such was his standing, he never had to apply for a job but was always offered one.
It would be an interesting conundrum to ask who of the current All Blacks would qualify for a knighthood and I would say it is contrasting times for different people. In Lochore’s era, four straight All Black captains (Sir Wilson Whineray, Sir John Graham, Lochore and Sir Colin Meads) were all knighted which reflects the quality of personnel at that time.
But has the age of political correctness weakened the standard of rugby in New Zealand and played a part in reducing the number of quality leaders and players as in the former? In 2008, as reported to the NZ Herald, Lochore stated that political correctness is destroying New Zealand. Responding to Ian Grant, he laid the blame for fathers being turned into “male mothers” on political correctness.” Lochore implored fathers to impose rules, and consequences for breaking them, but also to allow children to take risks. Are people obsessed with safety instead of adventure or was Lochore coming from a non-appropriate time?
Sir Brian Lochore was revered as much for his feats off the field as on and his stature will never be replicated.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.