Ken Gray

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ken Gray
Ken Gray
Player information
Full name Kenneth Francis Gray
birthday June 24, 1938
place of birth Porirua , New Zealand
date of death November 18, 1992
Place of death Plimmerton , New Zealand
size 188 cm
society
society deceased
position pier
Clubs as active
Years society Games (points)

1959-1969
1960-1969 		Paremata RFC
Petone RFC
Wellington RFU (Province)


133
National team
Years National team Games (points)
1963-1969 New Zealand 24 (12)

Status: June 8, 2010
National team: June 14, 1969

Kenneth Francis Gray (born June 24, 1938 in Porirua , New Zealand , † November 18, 1992 in Plimmerton , New Zealand) was a New Zealand national rugby union player on the position of the pillar and after his active rugby career local and regional politician in the area around Wellington .

Life

Gray attended Wellington College as a student, but never played for the school's first rugby team. After school, he became a full-time farmer in the northwest suburbs of New Zealand's capital Wellington.

He began his rugby career in the mid-1950s with the Paremata RFC club. In 1958 he was nominated for the second team of the Provincial Association Wellington RFU . A year later he went to the club Petone RFC, where he made the jump to the first team of the Wellington RFU in 1960.

In 1961 he moved from the position of the second-row striker to the first row, where he played as a pillar from now on. In his new position he was so convincing that in 1963 he played his first of a total of six games for the rugby selection of New Zealand's North Island , and was appointed to the squad of the national team of New Zealand (All Blacks) for the upcoming European tour. He was able to establish himself there alongside Wilson Whineray as a regular in the front row, and played in all five scheduled internationals against England , France , Ireland (international debut ), Scotland and Wales . The All Blacks did not lose any of the internationals, but did not get beyond a 0-0 draw against Scotland, which prevented them from the first Grand Slam in their history.

He also achieved the Ranfurly Shield against Auckland RFU with Wellington before the national team tour . However, the trophy could not be defended once and lost in the first challenge against local rivals Taranaki

In 1964, Ken Gray played in all three games against Australia (Wallabies). Since the All Blacks could win two games, they successfully defended the Bledisloe Cup . In the same year he was named captain of the Wellington crew. With her he failed in 1964 and 1965 in games for the Ranfurly Shield twice against defending champion Taranaki. In the Tour of the South Africans (Springboks) in New Zealand in 1965 and in the Tour of the British and Irish Lions in 1966, he played again in all four games, which were all won. He also led his province as captain to victories against the Springboks and Lions. In the years 1967-1969 he failed with Wellington at Ranfurly Shield several times at the then defending champion Hawke's Bay .

Because of his attitudes against apartheid in South Africa, he refused to take part in the All Blacks' tour to the Cape in 1970 . This caused so many disputes with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), the New Zealand rugby federation, that he completely retired from rugby in 1969 at the age of only 31.

After his rugby career, Gray went into local politics. He became a county councilor for Hutt County in 1971 and a Porirua town councilor in 1973. He was later elected to the Hutt Valley Energy Board and Wellington Regional Council, where he sat until his unexpected death from a heart attack in 1992. Shortly before his sudden death, the Labor Party put him up as a candidate for the 1993 parliamentary elections in the Western Hutt constituency.

The Petone Rugby Club, where he played until the end of his career, created the Ken Gray Academy in 1996 in his memory to promote young rugby talent. In the same year, the Ken Gray Education Center was established in a converted sheep barn on the Battle Hill Forest Farm.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Battle Hill - Ken Gray Education Center Greater Wellington Council , accessed June 8, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Gray, Ken
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gray, Kenneth Francis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand rugby union player
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Porirua , New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH November 18, 1992
Place of death Plimmerton , New Zealand