Obituary: Jock Hobbs, “The Man Who Saved Rugby”

Obituary: Jock Hobbs, “The Man Who Saved Rugby”

The New Zealand rugby community is mourning the loss of former All Blacks Captain and New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) board chairman Jock Hobbs after he died in Wellington Hospital today aged just 52, following a lengthy battle with leukaemia and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Sir Colin “Pinetree” Meads, regarded as New Zealand’s greatest ever rugby player, lead the tributes to Hobbs saying "Jock was one of the greatest administrators New Zealand ever had. He saved the game.''

Meads was referring to Hobbs’ work in preventing the then All Blacks squad from becoming a rebel professional team in 1995 at a critical juncture in the history of the game.

Other tributes came from New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and former Prime Minister Helen Clarke, as well as from many current and former rugby players and administrators around the world.

Hobbs was a combatative player, part of the New Zealand production line of open-side flankers that also includes the likes of Waka Nathan, Graeme Mourie, Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld and most recently Richie McCaw. He made his provincial debut for Canterbury and was a key leader in the Canterbury reign as Ranfurly Shield holders from 1982 to 1985.

Hobbs’ All Blacks debut came against the 1983 British and Irish Lions and he went on to play 21 test matches, captaining the All Blacks on tours to Fiji in 1984 and Argentina in 1985. To his later regret he then joined the rebel Cavaliers’ tour to South Africa in 1986 before a succession of concussions forced him to retire from all rugby before the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup. Had he been available in 1987 the great international career of Michael Jones may have had a delayed beginning.

For the next few years Hobbs focused his energies on his family and his career as a lawyer though continued rugby links lead to his appointment as a NZRU councillor in 1995 at a critical time as the game teetered on the edge between amateurism and professionalism. According to Peter Fitzsimons’ 2003 book The Rugby War Hobbs worked around the clock for over 6 weeks to convince key members of the All Blacks’ 1995 Rugby World Cup squad to sign professional contracts with the NZRU, despite the team members having already reached an understanding with the Kerry Packer backed World Rugby Corporation. In the late 1970s Packer had managed to turn international cricket on its head by signing all the major international players to his World Series Cricket, popularising one-day cricket along the way, so the threat to the rugby union establishment was very real. But for Hobbs efforts, along with those in South Africa by Dr Louis Luyt who reportedly bullied the Springboks’ players into staying with the SARU moden rugby could have been very different.

Hobbs was also involved in negotiations with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and other commercial partners to finance the new professional game. His reward was to be dumped from the NZRU council in 1996 when the number of council seats was streamlined.

Hobbs re-emerged to pick up the pieces after the 2003 Rugby World Cup hosting debacle forced much of the NZRU's top management to fall on their swords in 2002 and he became board chairman. In 2005 he was a key player in securing New Zealand the hosting rights to the 2011 tournament, with his negotiation skills credited with carrying the day.

Later in 2005 Hobbs was first diagnosed with a mostly dormant form of leukaemia, which in May 2010 required him to take a leave of absence from the NZRU for chemotherapy. In December 2010 he resigned his roles with the NZRU and Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd boards after learning he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In 2011 Hobbs was given the honour of taking the match ball onto Eden Park for the opening match of the Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and Tonga. Later in the tournament he presented All Blacks’ captain Richie McCaw and full back Mils Muliaina with silver caps to mark their hundredth test matches for New Zealand. After seeing New Zealand win the World Cup he had worked so hard to secure the hosting rights for he was awarded the Vernon Pugh award for Distinguished Service to Rugby by the IRB

Michael James Bowie “Jock” Hobbs was born in Christchurch on February 15, 1960. Hobbs, a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM), is survived by his wife Nicki (a sister of former All Blacks fullback and current Wallabies coach Robbie Deans), and children Michael (a first five-eighth for the Blues Super Rugby franchise), Emily, Penny and Isabella

Spoiler:

Corrected one typo buddy, other than that I have nothing to add.

Ozzy3213 wrote:Corrected one typo buddy, other than that I have nothing to add.

Cheers.