Rugby nice guys

[charltom]

Bumped into Buck Shelford in the Saints Bar after watching Northampton in the early 90s... ended up chatting to him for 20 minutes. Seemed to have no ego about him at all. Though I remember thinking he wasn't very tall.. but was very wide... and deep...

Also in 1989 Zinzan used to be a courier and would come into the bank I was working in at the time... at least once a week... was always very friendly with everyone. Though not sure what he'd be like now. He was only an Auckland star at that time really.

A few mates of mine were entertained well at home by Grizz Wylie and his wife in NZ in 2003. It was only after dinner that they saw a photo of him in All Blacks kit, and one with the Queen, that they realised who he might be. They think he was as friendly as he was because they were being friendly without a clue as to his identity!

[laurent]

Ronseal. We've all met or heard horror stories of rugby players who are pricks so here's some positivity.

Every interview of a rugby player I've ever heard talking about Kev Mealamu says he is the nicest guy ever. I think it was Nick Evans who said that when he was a roommate of Kev he asked him if could turn the TV on as of the was a kid asking permission from his parents rather than an AB legend. Evans was thinking "You're Keven Mealamu, you can do what you want".

Rancid Mick-bait.

we had him doing a talk in 'tarf during a november tour I think he was suspended for attempted murder on an english player . he was sound to be honest

[Dan54]

Was at a rugby luncheon at Brisbane about 17-18 years back. Speaker was Grant Fox, after the lunch everyone retired to bar upstairs, and Aussie mates were real impressed that Foxy left the bigwigs from QRU and wandered over to our table, to start with to tell me he liked a question I had asked, but then just settled in and had a good number of beers with us, and was a bloody good arvo' He seemed a genuinely top bloke..

[TedMaul]

One of the nicest guys is Schalk Burger.

Just wear protective glasses

Hmm.
Rather like the Kev M chat. Those acts don’t get forgotten.

[Gumboot]

Bumped into Buck Shelford in the Saints Bar after watching Northampton in the early 90s... ended up chatting to him for 20 minutes. Seemed to have no ego about him at all. Though I remember thinking he wasn't very tall.. but was very wide... and deep...

My brother and I met Buck on a night out in the Cross in the mid-80s. That afternoon, the NZ Sevens team had spanked Australia 32-0 to win the World Sevens crown, and the team was out celebrating their terrific win. Not a bad side either, with the likes of Kirk, Botica, Zinny, Craig Green... and Shelford of course.

He was standing in the doorway of some seedy establishment - arms crossed, blocking entry to the public while his teammates enjoyed a quiet shandy or two inside. He was in good spirits, but wouldn't budge and let us in, no matter how hard we cajoled him.

In the end we decided to let him off with a stern warning, and went on our merry way.

[assfly]

Nobody has mentioned Kolisi yet?

So humble, eloquent and considerate whenever he is being interviewed. I love having him as Bok captain, he has really raised the bar high.

[Grandpa]

Was at a rugby luncheon at Brisbane about 17-18 years back. Speaker was Grant Fox, after the lunch everyone retired to bar upstairs, and Aussie mates were real impressed that Foxy left the bigwigs from QRU and wandered over to our table, to start with to tell me he liked a question I had asked, but then just settled in and had a good number of beers with us, and was a bloody good arvo' He seemed a genuinely top bloke..

Was the question... "What made you so good?"

[Grandpa]

Bumped into Buck Shelford in the Saints Bar after watching Northampton in the early 90s... ended up chatting to him for 20 minutes. Seemed to have no ego about him at all. Though I remember thinking he wasn't very tall.. but was very wide... and deep...

Also in 1989 Zinzan used to be a courier and would come into the bank I was working in at the time... at least once a week... was always very friendly with everyone. Though not sure what he'd be like now. He was only an Auckland star at that time really.

A few mates of mine were entertained well at home by Grizz Wylie and his wife in NZ in 2003. It was only after dinner that they saw a photo of him in All Blacks kit, and one with the Queen, that they realised who he might be. They think he was as friendly as he was because they were being friendly without a clue as to his identity!

He was probably wondering why this bunch of strangers had just walked through the door expecting dinner too...

[Grandpa]

Bumped into Buck Shelford in the Saints Bar after watching Northampton in the early 90s... ended up chatting to him for 20 minutes. Seemed to have no ego about him at all. Though I remember thinking he wasn't very tall.. but was very wide... and deep...

My brother and I met Buck on a night out in the Cross in the mid-80s. That afternoon, the NZ Sevens team had spanked Australia 32-0 to win the World Sevens crown, and the team was out celebrating their terrific win. Not a bad side either, with the likes of Kirk, Botica, Zinny, Craig Green... and Shelford of course.

He was standing in the doorway of some seedy establishment - arms crossed, blocking entry to the public while his teammates enjoyed a quiet shandy or two inside. He was in good spirits, but wouldn't budge and let us in, no matter how hard we cajoled him.

In the end we decided to let him off with a stern warning, and went on our merry way.

Ahh Craig Green.... one player you had to see live to appreciate how good he was... TV was misleading...

[Grandpa]

Nobody has mentioned Kolisi yet?

So humble, eloquent and considerate whenever he is being interviewed. I love having him as Bok captain, he has really raised the bar high.

Has anyone here met him though?

Seems a top bloke.

[Slick]

Nobody has mentioned Kolisi yet?

So humble, eloquent and considerate whenever he is being interviewed. I love having him as Bok captain, he has really raised the bar high.

Has anyone here met him though?

Seems a top bloke.

He does seem like a really top guy and has of course transcended rugby.

[Grandpa]

Anyone remember Greg Cooper? Mathew's brother. He started doing a degree at Otago briefly. Only for a few months... then was picked for the All Blacks.. and didn't see him again. At the time he was recovering from cancer. Was given 6 months to live at one stage. Got to know him quite well in the few months he was there... a decent humble guy... and the ladies liked him... though he seemed quite shy.

Knew a few others at Otago who went on to become All Blacks, but Greg was the nicest of the bunch.

[Grandpa]

Nobody has mentioned Kolisi yet?

So humble, eloquent and considerate whenever he is being interviewed. I love having him as Bok captain, he has really raised the bar high.

Has anyone here met him though?

Seems a top bloke.

He does seem like a really top guy and has of course transcended rugby.

Lomu was another... transcended the sport and seemed very humble and decent. Still the most spectacular player I've seen live.

[Big D]

Met a lot more who were nice; Tom Smith, Doddie, Russell, SBW, Kieran Reed, Whitelock, Barrett, Ally Hogg, Jonny Beattie and others during either post match events, rugby events or various nights out. Sean Lineen was good value when I met him too.

Iain Paxton (ex Lion) was another who has been a gentleman anytime I have met him. As was Steve Tandy who I met through our kids playing tennis.

I don't particularly mind the ones who are a bit up themselves, I just wouldn't want anything to do with them. The only real bellends really were Mike Phillips, Guy Easterby and Malcolm O'Kelly who I wouldn't say I met but were in the general vicinity when they were obnoxious dickheads to plenty of others including staff.

[Uncle fester]

Guy Easterby is a bit of a piss head. His brother Simon is sound though.

[Begbie]

Ryan Wilson, Meatball and Sean Kennedy were brand new and happy to chat for ages over a few pints. Jamie Ritchie is a good cunt as well.

I've met Ryan Grant a few times and both times he was an arrogant fud. Heard from others this is normal behaviour for him.

[Slick]

Shout out to Blair Kinghorn as well, always had time for the kids when we used to see him regularly at various cafes

[boere wors]

Had a chat with Thierry Dusautoir couple of years ago. Proper gentlemen.

[Dan54]

Was at a rugby luncheon at Brisbane about 17-18 years back. Speaker was Grant Fox, after the lunch everyone retired to bar upstairs, and Aussie mates were real impressed that Foxy left the bigwigs from QRU and wandered over to our table, to start with to tell me he liked a question I had asked, but then just settled in and had a good number of beers with us, and was a bloody good arvo' He seemed a genuinely top bloke..

Was the question... "What made you so good?"

No mate it was after discussion on AB rest protocols (was first year of it), and QRU fella moaned how tough it was to sell tickets and they shouldn't do it.
I simply asked if it was NZ teams jobs to fill out stadium. and pointed out I was gold member etc, and said almost every week at games, there were supporters saying they weren't coming back next year and watch the crap they were playing. Were some so called supporters of Reds tried to get into me, Foxy simply said shut up he's entitled to ask the question. He came up to mr at the bar upstairs and said Geez Danny was a fair question although I may have put it differently.
I also asked him about cheerleaders from my area in NZ , Foxy laughed and sai well they do have great aftermatch entertainment there.

[Yeeb]

Was at a rugby luncheon at Brisbane about 17-18 years back. Speaker was Grant Fox, after the lunch everyone retired to bar upstairs, and Aussie mates were real impressed that Foxy left the bigwigs from QRU and wandered over to our table, to start with to tell me he liked a question I had asked, but then just settled in and had a good number of beers with us, and was a bloody good arvo' He seemed a genuinely top bloke..

Was the question... "What made you so good?"

No mate it was after discussion on AB rest protocols (was first year of it), and QRU fella moaned how tough it was to sell tickets and they shouldn't do it.
I simply asked if it was NZ teams jobs to fill out stadium. and pointed out I was gold member etc, and said almost every week at games, there were supporters saying they weren't coming back next year and watch the crap they were playing. Were some so called supporters of Reds tried to get into me, Foxy simply said shut up he's entitled to ask the question. He came up to mr at the bar upstairs and said Geez Danny was a fair question although I may have put it differently.
I also asked him about cheerleaders from my area in NZ , Foxy laughed and sai well they do have great aftermatch entertainment there.

Nz cheerleaders ?

[Slick]

Was at a rugby luncheon at Brisbane about 17-18 years back. Speaker was Grant Fox, after the lunch everyone retired to bar upstairs, and Aussie mates were real impressed that Foxy left the bigwigs from QRU and wandered over to our table, to start with to tell me he liked a question I had asked, but then just settled in and had a good number of beers with us, and was a bloody good arvo' He seemed a genuinely top bloke..

Was the question... "What made you so good?"

No mate it was after discussion on AB rest protocols (was first year of it), and QRU fella moaned how tough it was to sell tickets and they shouldn't do it.
I simply asked if it was NZ teams jobs to fill out stadium. and pointed out I was gold member etc, and said almost every week at games, there were supporters saying they weren't coming back next year and watch the crap they were playing. Were some so called supporters of Reds tried to get into me, Foxy simply said shut up he's entitled to ask the question. He came up to mr at the bar upstairs and said Geez Danny was a fair question although I may have put it differently.
I also asked him about cheerleaders from my area in NZ , Foxy laughed and sai well they do have great aftermatch entertainment there.

One of the best nights of my life was at the Lions game in Taranaki in '93. Me and a Welsh lad had strolled into the Lions changing room post match and were sitting with Brian Moore and Jason Leonard when some security noticed and came to get us. We ran out the room, turned right, then noticed security coming towards us from the exit, so ran into another changing room. It happened to be the cheerleaders room who were celebrating, they laughed and invited us in and told security we were with them. Spent the night with them all in various bars. Also got lucky, but that's another long story...

[Sandstorm]

Me and a Welsh lad.....got lucky, but that's another long story...

What happens on tour....

[Slick]

Just watched the highlights of that game, fuck it was fun.

So much quicker, so much more space, proper rucking just let the game flow. A few knock ons etc missed but everyone just got in with it and no moaning to the ref. Just a better game to watch IMO. Also, Scottie Gibbs was some bloody player

[Tichtheid]

Just watched the highlights of that game, fuck it was fun.

So much quicker, so much more space, proper rucking just let the game flow. A few knock ons etc missed but everyone just got in with it and no moaning to the ref. Just a better game to watch IMO. Also, Scottie Gibbs was some bloody player

I've just looked up the squad for that tour as a result of your post. Peter Wright was in the squad, he gets a fair amount of stick but I always found him to be alright, though I only spoke to him a few times. A mate played with him and knew him well and he always said that Wright was sound.

[Slick]

Just watched the highlights of that game, fuck it was fun.

So much quicker, so much more space, proper rucking just let the game flow. A few knock ons etc missed but everyone just got in with it and no moaning to the ref. Just a better game to watch IMO. Also, Scottie Gibbs was some bloody player

I've just looked up the squad for that tour as a result of your post. Peter Wright was in the squad, he gets a fair amount of stick but I always found him to be alright, though I only spoke to him a few times. A mate played with him and knew him well and he always said that Wright was sound.

He spent a lot of that tour in our camper van and was always a good guy. Met him a few years later and he was very sheepish about his antics... He got a lot of stick because he basically was on the piss for 6 weeks but he actually played pretty well.

[Yeeb]

Me and a Welsh lad.....got lucky, but that's another long story...

What happens on tour....

Wasn’t that lucky, he said Taranaki

Inevitable more like

[SaintK]

Just watched the highlights of that game, fuck it was fun.

So much quicker, so much more space, proper rucking just let the game flow. A few knock ons etc missed but everyone just got in with it and no moaning to the ref. Just a better game to watch IMO. Also, Scottie Gibbs was some bloody player

I've just looked up the squad for that tour as a result of your post. Peter Wright was in the squad, he gets a fair amount of stick but I always found him to be alright, though I only spoke to him a few times. A mate played with him and knew him well and he always said that Wright was sound.

He spent a lot of that tour in our camper van and was always a good guy. Met him a few years later and he was very sheepish about his antics... He got a lot of stick because he basically was on the piss for 6 weeks but he actually played like a teapot.

FIFY

[Grandpa]

Was at a rugby luncheon at Brisbane about 17-18 years back. Speaker was Grant Fox, after the lunch everyone retired to bar upstairs, and Aussie mates were real impressed that Foxy left the bigwigs from QRU and wandered over to our table, to start with to tell me he liked a question I had asked, but then just settled in and had a good number of beers with us, and was a bloody good arvo' He seemed a genuinely top bloke..

Was the question... "What made you so good?"

No mate it was after discussion on AB rest protocols (was first year of it), and QRU fella moaned how tough it was to sell tickets and they shouldn't do it.
I simply asked if it was NZ teams jobs to fill out stadium. and pointed out I was gold member etc, and said almost every week at games, there were supporters saying they weren't coming back next year and watch the crap they were playing. Were some so called supporters of Reds tried to get into me, Foxy simply said shut up he's entitled to ask the question. He came up to mr at the bar upstairs and said Geez Danny was a fair question although I may have put it differently.
I also asked him about cheerleaders from my area in NZ , Foxy laughed and sai well they do have great aftermatch entertainment there.

That was good of him. These Cheerleaders... were you asking if your area could have them? Or wanted his opinion on your cheerleaders?

[Dan54]

Was the question... "What made you so good?"

No mate it was after discussion on AB rest protocols (was first year of it), and QRU fella moaned how tough it was to sell tickets and they shouldn't do it.
I simply asked if it was NZ teams jobs to fill out stadium. and pointed out I was gold member etc, and said almost every week at games, there were supporters saying they weren't coming back next year and watch the crap they were playing. Were some so called supporters of Reds tried to get into me, Foxy simply said shut up he's entitled to ask the question. He came up to mr at the bar upstairs and said Geez Danny was a fair question although I may have put it differently.
I also asked him about cheerleaders from my area in NZ , Foxy laughed and sai well they do have great aftermatch entertainment there.

That was good of him. These Cheerleaders... were you asking if your area could have them? Or wanted his opinion on your cheerleaders?

Oh they had them, even in a smallish town, the question was tongue in cheek about one , Foxy just smiled and said I did say they had great aftermatch.