AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP
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One of the nicest blokes you would ever meet , always a pleasure to deal with Bruce when he worked for Northland Rugby
He was one of my favourite players growing up in the 80s ,definetly knew how to beat a man on the outside with his pace and more importantly set his winger up ,
His draw ,and timing of the pass was an absolute clinic and a bench mark on how to set up an outside ,All Black wingers Grant Batty ,Brian Williams ,Bernie Fraser ,Stu Wilson and his provincial wingers Robert Kururangi and Paul Riley would also testify they played on the outside of the prince of centres , could have easily played in the 11 or 14 jersey thats how quick he was.
An absolute legend and great rugby player on and off the field
Moe mai e koro🙏🏼 -
My best memory of him was the making of Hika Reid's try v Aus at Ballymore in 1980.
Had to reach back and catch the pass behind him spin around and then accelerate into space.
Anyone old enough to remember it (and someone with better googling skills than me who can find the video*) will know there was a fair bit happening after that to get Hila across the line, but Robertson created the chance.
RIP
(* I keep getting the 3rd test in Sydney - which we lost after a food poisoning incident - but not the 2nd test with said try.)
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That's sad news - one of my favourite players growing up.
It's pretty grainy and you need to pretty much frame by frame it to see what happens - but, here's the famous (non) penalty try incident in the 4th test vs SA (at 5.15).
Using the modern "take Oosthuizen out of the play" protocol, no-one else will stop him scoring.
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Loved his play at centre 2 moments I saw him do live will always live in my memory, just flashes from games.
1 He was playing for Counties againsr Wellington in 197somthing at Atjletic park, he was mremirising, and will always remeber him coming down sideline at full pace, without slowing he centre kicked for one of his team mates, and put the ball on a dime under goal post, another try Counties won by about 50 that day , and he was a big part of reason.
2 Also Athletic Park test against Lions (1977) he was drifting across in defence, can't remember which Lions received ball, and as Robertson was going in for tackle he passed to another Lion with a huge overlap coming up, Robertson accelerated onto the reciver and hit him beautifully, ball popped up and Grant Batty got it and scored!
Will always remember both things I was just blown away. -
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@Chris-B Lol funny mate I remember Graham Price almost running him down too. Mind you Batty was crocked by then, was going to retire but talked out of it , was so good at throwing ball into lineout forwards didn't want him to go. And I thought Irvine shouldn't of been up in line anyway, I always came away from game remembering they had an overlap without him being there. Mind you just things that went through my mind.
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@Dan54 Ha - I'm old enough to have thrown into a few lineouts from the wing as a kid - initially with the two-handed between the legs lob - and a bit later basically sort of bowling offspin - torpedo style - with my hand wrapped around the ball because it wasn't big enough to grip it.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
Think Conrad's smarts, timing, decision making and step with Reiko's pace and you have Bruce Robertson.
Summed him up perfectly but I'd add his kicking ability as well.
Probably the best AB 13 I've seen.
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Possible future father in law mentioned what amazing player this guy was, thats generally an indication he could play ( in amongst griping that todays guys spend too much time in the gym and not enough on basic skills )
Apparently Robertson was dropped for not being a punishing tackler at one stage ? Who of that era was though ?
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@Chris-B said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@Dan54 That 1976 tour reminds me of how the likes of JJ Stewart hadn't yet appreciated the importance of goal kicking - the Jaapies were well ahead of us in picking Gerald Bosch.
Cough. Cough. Don Clarke. Cough.
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@MN5 said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
Apparently Robertson was dropped for not being a punishing tackler at one stage ? Who of that era was thought ?
Fascinating, didn't know that. Any idea when that was?
Remember reading in one of Terry McLean's books that Robertson was regarded as being a pretty fearless tackler and not afraid to mix it and there was a worry that as a key player he'd get injured.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@MN5 said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
Apparently Robertson was dropped for not being a punishing tackler at one stage ? Who of that era was thought ?
Fascinating, didn't know that. Any idea when that was?
Remember reading in one of Terry McLean's books that Robertson was regarded as being a pretty fearless tackler and not afraid to mix it and there was a worry that as a key player he'd get injured.
I’ll have go over todays internet history to find it !
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@MN5
Ta. Genuinely interested. -
@Victor-Meldrew said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@MN5
Ta. Genuinely interested.Oh you’re being serious ?
There it is, 0.22 in the video shared by @Daffy-Jaffy
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@Catogrande said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@Chris-B said in AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP:
@Dan54 That 1976 tour reminds me of how the likes of JJ Stewart hadn't yet appreciated the importance of goal kicking - the Jaapies were well ahead of us in picking Gerald Bosch.
Cough. Cough. Don Clarke. Cough.
We'd forgotten.
Our test goal-kickers on that tour were Williams and Going, who were pretty much 30 percent men by today's standards.
Laurie Mains was the only decent kicker on the tour, but was perceived to be too slow in general play and Kit Fawcett - better kicker than the other two, but too flaky.
A while ago I re-read one of Terry McLean's books where he put up some kicking stats for Don. He's miles short of good modern kickers.
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@Chris-B said in [AB Great, Bruce Robertson - RIP]
A while ago I re-read one of Terry McLean's books where he put up some kicking stats for Don. He's miles short of good modern kickers.
Were the balls as consistent in Don's day?
