‘A real wild boy’

A notorious All Black leaves the field.

Former All Black Keith Murdoch, who died on March 30, aged 74, was an international man of mystery, but any resemblance to foppish fictional spy Austin Powers ends there.

In 1972, after punching a Cardiff hotel security guard at the end of a long night celebrating a nail-biting victory over Wales, Murdoch became the only All Black to be sent home from a tour.

It was an eventful 12 hours: Murdoch had scored the All Blacks’ only try and floored the Welsh captain with a punch the latter didn’t see coming and had no reason to expect. Instead of returning home, he jumped plane in Singapore and made his way to outback Australia, where he led a reclusive, itinerant existence for the rest of his life.

Photojournalist Peter Bush knew Murdoch better than most. Earlier that fateful night, Murdoch had come to Bush’s hotel room to urge him to join the party. Bush declined for various reasons, one being that Murdoch was wearing only underpants and a fancy necklace.

A West Coaster, a good keen man and a bit of a hard case himself, Bush was largely sympathetic: “I liked Murdoch, but he was a real wild boy.” He believes Murdoch’s loose cannon reputation and intimidating appearance made him an irresistible target for the hostile UK media.

Rugby writer TP – later Sir Terry – McLean, who was more officer and gentleman than Kiwi bloke, was less forgiving. His book about the tour, They Missed the Bus, portrays Murdoch as trouble waiting to happen, citing the All Black’s “pathetically revealing” admission to an opponent: “I’m not the same as you ordinary blokes. Nine-tenths of the time I’m okay, but the other 10th I’ve got to blow. I can’t take it; I have to stand up for myself and explode.”

Bush and McLean agreed it didn’t help that Murdoch was part of an All Blacks team deficient in leadership and character compared with most of those before and since. He needed to be in an environment with high standards; without them, he lapsed back into his wild ways.