Wayne Shelford
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| Wayne "Buck" Shelford | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | December 13, 1957 (age 49) | ||
| Place of birth | Rotorua, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.89 m | ||
| Weight | 93 kg | ||
| Nickname | Buck | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Position | No. 8 | ||
| Amateur clubs | |||
| 1991-1997 1974-1991 |
Northampton North Shore |
||
| correct as of 1 November 2006. | |||
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| 1985-1991 1982-1985 |
North Harbour Auckland |
||
| correct as of 1 November 2006. | |||
| National team(s) | Caps | (points) | |
| 1986-1990 | New Zealand | 22 | (20) |
| correct as of 1 November 2006. | |||
| Teams coached | |||
| 2002-2003 1997-2002 |
Saracens North Harbour |
||
| correct as of unverified. | |||
| Other Information | |||
| School attended | Western Heights High | ||
| Spouse | Joanna Shelford | ||
| Children | Lia Shelford Eruera Shelford Mitchell Happu (god-son) |
||
Wayne Thomas "Buck" Shelford (born 13 December 1957 in Rotorua) was a New Zealand rugby player who captained the All Blacks from 1987 to 1990 and who is credited with bringing about the improved performance of the All Blacks traditional "Ka Mate" haka.
After playing for Western Heights High School First XV, he was selected for the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools and Auckland age grade sides, and made his Auckland provincial debut in 1982. In 1985, when the North Harbour Rugby Union was created, he moved with it as his club side was a member. This was the same year he was first selected for the All Blacks, for the later abandoned South Africa tour.
His first game for the All Blacks was against Club Atlético San Isidro in Buenos Aires on October 12, 1985. He then joined the unauthorised Cavaliers tour of South Africa in 1986, which included 28 of the 30 players selected for the original tour [1].
Shelford next played for the All Blacks against France, though he had been selected to play Australia but withdrew due to injury. It was during only his second test for the All Blacks that he suffered a ripped scrotum after being rucked by a French player, which left one testicle hanging free. He also lost four teeth during the ruck. After discovering the injury to his scrotum, he calmly asked the physio to stitch up the tear and returned to the field and played out the rest of the game, which the All Blacks lost. [2] [3]
In 1987, the first Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand. Shelford played in five of the six All Blacks games.
He first captained the side during the 1987 tour of Japan. During his captaincy of 14 games from 1987 to 1990, the All Blacks didn't lose a game, only drawing once against Australia in 1988.
After becoming captain, Shelford brought his teammates to Te Aute College, a Māori school, to see the students perform a traditional haka. Although the All Blacks had been performing hakas at the start of their matches since the team's inception, Shelford taught them the proper way to perform the "Ka Mate," the haka they still use to this day at the start of their matches.
In 1990, the team's selectors decided that he was not up to the standard for the team and was dropped after a two test series against Scotland. The general public were unhappy with this decision especially when the All Blacks lost the third test of their next series against Australia, ending a 17 test winning streak (and 49 game streak including non-tests) [4]. After this fans started appearing at games with signs saying "Bring Back Buck", this continues to this day at sporting events throughout New Zealand.
Although he never regained his place in the All Black side, he was the captain of the New Zealand XV that played Romania in the Soviet Union and New Zealand B team that played Australia. He had played 48 All Blacks games including 22 tests and had captained the side 31 times, including 14 tests. He also scored 22 tries in total in his All Blacks career.
He retired from playing all rugby in 1991 and coached for some time in Britain. He returned to New Zealand and was the assistant coach of the North Harbour team in 1997 and coach in 1998.
He has two children to his wife, Joanne, Lia (born: 1981) and Eruera (born: 1985) as well as having adopted his god-son, Mitchell Haapu (born: 1987).
