Former All Black Brian Molloy dies, aged 91

Former All Blacks halfback Brian Molloy, who later established a career as a respected scientist, has died in Christchurch. He was 91.

Molloy, who travelled with the All Blacks to Australia in 1957 as a deputy to established No 9 and captain Ponty Reid, made five mid-week appearances during the tour.

Reid played both tests against the Wallabies. It was during the 86-0 rout of South-West Zone in Grenfell that Molloy scored his only try for the All Blacks.

Molloy was a surprising addition to the All Blacks because he hadn’t been a first-choice player at provincial level. He first played for Manawatu¯ , and then represented

Canterbury after moving south to pursue his career as a scientist and to do post-graduate studies at the University of Canterbury. He later gained a doctorate.

In 1955 and 1956 Molloy made a handful of appearances for Canterbury. He was also a member of the New Zealand Universities team that beat the touring Springboks 22-15 at Athletic Park in Wellington in 1956, and that was likely to have earned him a start in the All Blacks trials the following year.

Although Molloy played for the South Island in 1958 and was rewarded with an All Blacks trial, he never earned a recall to the national side. However, he had a productive season for Canterbury when he captained the side and made 13 appearances.

Having retired from playing rugby after 1958, Molloy made a fine contribution to the University of Canterbury club as a coach for six years.

Molloy was also a NZ Universities selector between 1975-78. In 1977 the team beat the touring British and Irish Lions. The students were the only side to beat the Lions, apart from the All Blacks who won the test series 3-1.