‘Grey Ghost’ ex-AB killed in car crash

Former All Black Ian Uttley, 73, and his wife Christine, 74, died when their car and an unladen logging truck collided on the Napier-Taupo highway on Tuesday.

Uttley – nicknamed the Grey Ghost because of his ashen face – played for the All Blacks against England in Auckland in May 1963.

He played his second and final test against England in Christchurch a week later, the All Blacks website says.

The All Blacks won both games.

‘‘He had a deceptive gliding run which, combined with moving in or out to take a pass, enabled him to make many openings,’’ the website says.

Uttley, who attended Wellington College then Victoria University, played for Wellington from 1961 to 1965 and again in 1968.

He played for Auckland B in 1966 and Bay of Plenty in 1967. In all he played 82 firstclass games, representing Wellington 52 times and Bay of Plenty nine.

A death notice said the couple died as the result of a tragic accident and were ‘‘together forever’’.

The Uttleys had four children and six grandchildren. Their funeral will be in the Napier War Memorial Conference Centre on Tuesday.

At Wellington College Uttley was an outstanding schoolboy athlete who captained the First XV and was also athletics captain and head prefect.

He also captained University to victory in the 1966 Jubilee Cup, Wellington club rugby’s premier trophy. Old Boys-University took until this year to match that feat.

Uttley spent his whole working life at Shell, Wellington rugby historian and commentator Keith Quinn said.

The Uttleys lived on Napier Tce, near Chaucer Rd, and were affected by the three-day Napier siege on May 7-9, 2009, when Jan Molenaar barricaded himself in his Chaucer Rd house after killing policeman Len Snee and injuring two others

On the final day of the siege, before it was determined Molenaar had killed himself, Uttley spoke to Radio New Zealand about being within the cordon.

‘‘It is one of those things you hope you never had to go through,’’ he said. ‘‘You get very worried about someone racing around with a rifle.’’