John Graham (rugby union)
 Graham in 1960 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | David John Graham | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 9 January 1935 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Stratford, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 2 August 2017 (aged 82) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | New Plymouth Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Auckland University College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Educator and educational administrator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sir David John Graham
Early life
Born in
Rugby career
Upon completing his tertiary education in 1958 Graham moved to Christchurch and took up a permanent teaching position at Christchurch Boys' High School. He joined the Christchurch High School Old Boys club rugby team and was immediately made captain, remaining so for the rest of his time there. The same year he was selected for the All Blacks for the first two tests against Australia, making his debut on 23 August in Wellington and helping his team to a 25–3 victory. In 1959 Graham withdrew from the All Black trials, but in 1960 was selected to tour South Africa. He played 10 of the 26 matches, including the second and third tests, and captained the team on a number of occasions.
Graham was an intelligent player with a great turn of speed, and became one of the most intelligent and fastest loose forwards in the All Black side.[1] When Wilson Whineray retired after the tour of Great Britain in 1964, Graham took over the All Black captaincy, a position he held until retiring from rugby in 1965. He had played a total of 31 games for the All Blacks (seven as captain), and a total of 22 tests (three as captain). He scored 11 tries for the All Blacks, two of which were test match tries.
Post-rugby career
After retiring from rugby Graham returned to teaching, being promoted to Head of
Graham was outspoken about rugby, its organisation and its place in New Zealand culture. After touring South Africa with the All Blacks in 1960, he said that "if we had any conscience and feeling for humanity, we should not have been touring South Africa". Along with Wilson Whineray he declined to attend the matches of the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand. Graham has also criticised the presence of advertising on the All Black jersey; "I may be a dinosaur in this respect, but I don't think anything should go on the All Black jersey other than the silver fern".[1]
Graham believed New Zealanders focus excessively on the sport of rugby, stating, "I don't think rugby union is anywhere near as important in this country as solving the problems of poverty and unemployment. We're happy, aren't we, when our rugby team goes well, yet we're prepared to let some aspects of our nation go almost ignored."[1]
Graham spent decades working in education, and served as chairman of the New Zealand Education Scholarship Trust. He was critical of much of what is produced by contemporary educationalists, believing that "To assume, as so many teachers do today, that the knowledge has to come from the children and all they have to do is pull it out, is educational nonsense."[1]
Graham died of cancer in Auckland on 2 August 2017.[3]
Honours and awards
In the
In 1999 Graham was named "New Zealander of the Year" by North & South magazine, the cover article of the January 2000 edition running under the heading, "John Graham, the man who set standards". The break-out quote described him as:
"All Black captain, for 21 years headmaster of Auckland Grammar School, rugby coach, company director, businessman, commissioner of the troubled Nga Tapawae College, manager of the New Zealand cricket team. Renaissance man and Chancellor of the University of Auckland."
Graham was elected president of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union in 2005, and received an
In the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours, Graham was appointed a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to education and sports.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d "New Zealand All Blacks rugby team official website, New Zealand Rugby Football Union". Stats.allblacks.com. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ^ Andrew Laxon (10 December 2011). "Waiting for super schools". NZ Herald.
- ^ "NZ sports leader Sir John Graham dies". Stuff.co.nz. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
- ^ "No. 53697". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 11 June 1994. p. 34.
- ^ "Queen's Birthday honours list 2011". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- University of Auckland article: John Graham and Ngugi wa Thiong’o to receive honorary doctorates; 8 July 2005
- NZRU Annual Report 2005 Archived 16 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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