The Lost All Black

From Walesonline:


The extraordinary story of the lost All Black Keith Murdoch 40 years on


"Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most infamous incidents in the history of rugby between Wales and New Zealand. Peter Law reports on the extraordinary story of Keith Murdoch.

When Wales and New Zealand run out in front of a packed Millennium Stadium on Saturday afternoon it will be another chapter in the history of these two proud rugby nations.

In the crowd and watching at home or in their rugby clubs will be scores of veterans of these momentous encounters – yet it is safe to say that in the Outback of Australia, Keith Murdoch, a man who was at the heart of one of the rivalry’s saddest moments, will not be among them.

When Murdoch arrived in Wales in October 1972 as part of a fearsome New Zealand squad seeking revenge for their mauling at the hands of British and Irish Lions, his reputation preceded him.

At the time, the Western Mail reported how the “giant Otago prop” was the “biggest chested player to ever represent the All Blacks”.

The team tailor said of Murdoch’s 48-inch chest: “Ordinary fittings wouldn’t go anywhere near him – I had to sew two or three inches of extra material into this shirt sleeves.”

For the team’s official biographies, Murdoch, who tipped the scales at 17st 4lbs (110kg), classed himself as a farmer, saying: “I’ve been scrubcutting on a farm, that’s near enough.”

As anyone who watched the BBC Wales documentary We Beat The All Blacks earlier this week will know, the forward left a real impression on Llanelli – and, with his boots, on several of their players – at the start of the tour.

Llanelli, of course, triumphed 9-3 at Stradey Park and the town’s pubs famously ran dry.

A month later, on December 2, the All Blacks defeated Wales 16-19 in front of a crowd of 52,000 at Cardiff Arms Park, with the 6ft tall prop scoring the match-winning try.

It should have been one of the highlights of Murdoch’s career. Instead, his world came crashing down just a few hours later when a moment of madness meant he would never play rugby for his nation again.

That night, the All Blacks were celebrating their win in the Angel Hotel on Castle Street. When the bar closed, the moustached Murdoch went searching for more beers in the kitchen, only to be confronted by security guard Peter Grant.

Four decades on, exactly what happened next remains unclear, but the story goes that 6ft 4ins tall Grant was knocked to the ground.

The late-night incident made front page news in the South Wales Echo and The Western Mail, as well as in New Zealand.

Grant, 29, of Cwmbran, who had a black eye, told reporters that he’d gone into the kitchen after hearing complaints that Murdoch was annoying staff.

“He tried to punch one of his tour officials and I stepped in to restrain him. They managed to get him away but then he came round from some pillars and punched me,” Grant said.

“They held me back to stop me getting at him. Our men restrained him, with one or two of the New Zealand players helping. It was ridiculous. We were there to protect the New Zealanders. This should never have happened.”

After initially only disciplining Murdoch, All Blacks manager Ernie Todd two days later decided to send him home “for his own good”. “It was not an easy decision to make,” he said.

It is what happened next that gave birth to the Murdoch myth.

He was put on a plane from Heathrow to New Zealand, via Sydney – but never arrived in Auckland. It’s thought he switched flights in Singapore and instead boarded a plane to Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory, where he vanished.

Repeated attempts to contact him and bring him back into the NZ rugby fold failed. In the 40 years since that fateful night in Cardiff, Murdoch has only been seen in public a handful of times.

Now aged 69, he continues to resist the spotlight and reportedly lives a nomadic existence in the Outback, following seasonal work in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Numerous journalists have tried to track him down for an interview, with little success.

About five years after the 1972 tour, rugby writer Terry McLean found Murdoch working at an oil drilling site near Perth. The encounter was short. McLean got off a bus and said hello, only to be told by a spanner-wielding Murdoch to get back on the vehicle. “I got back on the bus,” McLean wrote.

Kiwi journalist Margot McRae then found him in 1990 living in the Queensland town of Tully, where he agreed to speak to her off camera.

“He was a deeply shy person, not very articulate. He felt it was better to be quiet than be embarrassed. He was not going to come home and be confronted by reporters,” she said last year.

A decade later, in 2001, Murdoch was called as a witness in an inquest into the death of a Aboriginal man in the Northern Territory. The then 57-year-old had caught the 20-year-old breaking into his home in Tennant Creek, north of Alice Springs.

The young man’s body was found in an abandoned mine weeks later. Murdoch was never named as a suspect and said little at the inquest, where he again ignored the media.

He has not been seen or heard from since and to this day has never given his account of what happened in Cardiff.

Last year, All Blacks flanker Ian Kirkpatrick – Murdoch’s captain on the ‘72 tour – issued a plea for his former teammate to be left in peace. “It is better to leave him alone now, the poor bugger,” Kirkpatrick told Fairfax newspapers in New Zealand.

Nobody knows where Murdoch is living today or if he’ll be watching tomorrow’s Test, but irrespective of the result, the Murdoch myth will continue"

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/need-to-read/2012/11/23/the-extraordinary-story-of-the-lost-all-black-keith-murdoch-40-years-on-91466-32288337/

Watched highlights of Llanelli's famous victory over the all blacks last night. Murdoch definitely left his mark on a few Llanelli players that day.

Yes an incredible story of self imposed punishment.

In todays world hed probably be back on the field within a year.

Pity...his story would probably give him a sizeable retirement fund, and perhaps a little bit of inner peace by sharing his story in whats is clearly an over exaggerated reaction to the event.

The same tour when I still recall the commentary of the English match, when Sutherland, a big AB's lock (no 8) ran into the English fullback and over him to the try line from 5 metres out, the commenter dryly says.. and that's what happens when 18 stones runs into you...

Taylorman wrote:Yes an incredible story of self imposed punishment.

In todays world hed probably be back on the field within a year.

Pity...his story would probably give him a sizeable retirement fund, and perhaps a little bit of inner peace by sharing his story in whats is clearly an over exaggerated reaction to the event.

There's all sorts of rumours about the sending home - there was one that the home nations threatened to cancel the rest of the tour if he stayed.

Yes but it still doesnt justify a self imposed exile for his remaining days- people get less for murder.

Both the event and the reaction doesnt suggest Murdoch had all his marbles with him and injuring the AB status doesnt fly as enough reason for any of it.

Clearly a loner- even his own description of his employment seems to reflect that.

Just a whole unfortunate affair which didnt need to happen.

Taylorman wrote:Yes an incredible story of self imposed punishment.

In todays world hed probably be back on the field within a year.

Pity...his story would probably give him a sizeable retirement fund, and perhaps a little bit of inner peace by sharing his story in whats is clearly an over exaggerated reaction to the event.

In todays world he would be back in the Kiwi team for the next match, it all having been an "accident" and another example of the IRB vilifying poor innocent Kiwis.

Great story though.

He was a right thug in that Llanelli game. I find it hard to have much sympathy for him.

Taylorman: what was reported in the nz press at the time of the incident? Would he have been vilified that much not to return home? Sounds just a drunken flare up, normal for us welsh in recent time.

He's in Banwen.