THESE are sad times again for the rugby community in New Zealand following the recent deaths of two former All Blacks, the second possibly somewhere in the Australian outback.
Those in the Pacific Island community especially were deeply affected by the death of backrower Dylan Mika at the relatively young age of 45 several days ago due to a heart attack. Mika had to deal with Type 1 diabetes all his life.
What led to his death itself has been a cause for concern among Pasifika players, with those in the medical profession confirming that many teenage players have shown a high incidence of diabetes, kidney issues and rheumatic fever.
Mika, who played two Tests for his native Samoa in 1994-95 and then seven for the All Blacks in 1999 including at the World Cup that year after standing down for three years as required by the then International Rugby Board, was active in the Samoan community in Auckland and was also involved with club rugby after his retirement.
The cause of death brought back memories of the deaths of All Blacks backrower Sione Lauaki in February 2017 at the age of 35, the legendary Jonah Lomu not long after the 2015 World Cup also due to a heart attack complicated by kidney problems and of Peter Fatialofa in November 2013 from a heart attack at aged 54.
Joeli Vidiri, Lomu’s team-mate at Counties Manukau and the Blues who also played for Fiji and the All Blacks, waited 14 years for a kidney transplant, with the medical issues cutting short his career. Both Lomu and Vidiri were in the gold medal winning New Zealand 7s team at the 1998 KL Commonwealth Games.
The community too didn’t forget the death of Samoan Jerry Collins in a road accident in France in June 2015.
When people talk about the most recent death, those familiar with New Zealand rugby in the late 60s and early 70s would know about the mysterious life of Keith Murdoch, a prop in Otago who was built like a bull and according to various accounts, just as strong as one.
He infamously became the first and so far the only All Black to be sent home while on tour for indiscipline after punching a Welsh hotel security guard when celebrating a Test win hours earlier over Wales, in which Murdoch scored a try.
Murdoch never reached New Zealand but was said to have switched flights during a stopover in Singapore that December 1972 to change course to Australia, where he spent most of his years thereafter in the outback, moving from town to town.
He never talked publicly about the incident in Cardiff although two Kiwi journalists managed to track him down in the outback, somewhere off Perth and then in Queensland. Murdoch returned briefly to live with friends in Zealand and once saved a young girl from drowning in a swimming pool but moved back to Australia and was last seen in public in 2001 when appearing as a witness at a coroner’s inquest.
Team-mates on that ill-fated tour for Murdoch in 1972-73 have openly expressed their regret at not doing more to correct the situation, especially with regard to tour manager Ernie Todd’s change of mind that led to Murdoch’s departure.
The other sad news is on the health of another former All Black, fullback Fergie McCormick of Canterbury. McCormick, who played 28 times for the national side including 16 Tests, was another known for his strong tackles.
The 78-year-old played his last Test in the 9-3 Lions defeat of the All Blacks in Dunedin in the first Test of the 1971 Lions tour and fell out of favour soon after but continued to play for Canterbury for the next four years.
McCormick is now in a serious condition in hospital battling throat cancer.
There is however better news in the northern hemisphere, in Ireland, when a court in mid-week acquitted two Ireland internationals and two of their friends of rape and other charges. Flyhalf Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding who are also team-mates at Ulster were charged in July last year of the allegation that followed a night out at a bar in June 2016.
Both players were suspended from playing for both club and country while the case was in progress but for now cannot resume until the national union concludes its own review.