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Like several other New Zealand forwards of his era, Ian Kirkpatrick enjoyed a long career, testament to the phenomenal endurance and toughness of players from the land of the long white cloud. Ian first travelled with the All Blacks on their all conquering tour of Britain and France in 1967 as an uncapped 21 year old. Coach Fred Allen saw great potential in the Canterbury flanker and picked him ahead of the legendary Kel Tremain in the penultimate test of the trip against France. Kirkpatrick's debut was an unmitigated success, and like fellow newcomer Sid Going, he scored a try in New Zealand's 19-15 win. Another All Black legend had arrived. In 1968 Ian further enhanced his reputation by scoring three tries in the first test against Australia, an achievement made all the remarkable by the fact that he had come on as a replacement!
The arrival of the British Lions in 1971 did not initially ring too many alarm bells in New Zealand, especially given the ease which the All Blacks had dispatched the touring Welsh side two years earlier. However, losing the first test made the whole country take notice and New Zealand hit back hard in the second, with Kirkpatrick scoring a superb individual effort from sixty metres out. The series was eventually lost, but a year later Ian was given the honour of being made captain for the 1972/73 tour to Britain and France. Unfortunately, events on the field were somewhat overshadowed by the highly publicised "Murdoch Incident" in which the Otago prop was sent home following a punch up with a Welsh security guard. In rugby terms the tour was otherwise successful, and the All Blacks came within a whisker of achieving a coveted Grand Slam of victories over the home nations, denied only by a battling Irish side in Dublin. (Jon Collins)
(Part 2) 1973-1977.
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The 1973 one off test against England in Auckland was the first for new coach John Stewart and the last as captain for Ian Kirkpatrick. England arrived in New Zealand at relatively short notice and were unimpressive in their warm up games, much as they had been the previous year in South Africa. However, in a result that literally beggared belief, they somehow managed to defeat the All Blacks 16-10, thus silencing a hugely partisan crowd. Some felt that Kirkpatrick was made a scapegoat for that loss and he was controversially replaced as skipper by Andy Leslie for the 1974 tour to Australia. Despite having had one of the greatest honours in sport taken away from him, Ian accepted the loss with dignity and was fulsome in his support of the new captain. Free of the leadership burden, he immediately returned to top form and played his rugby in the same uninhibited manner that had characterised his debut seven years earlier.
Indeed, experts rate Kirkpatrick's performance in the first test at Sydney, a game played in atrocious conditions of wind and driving rain, as his greatest in an All Black shirt. In 1976 Ian featured in all four tests of a South African tour that would go on to wield severe political implications, but once again the All Blacks were denied victory in the back yard of their old foes. A year later though saw the return of the Lions and a chance to avenge the defeat of 1971. Unlike their backs, the British forwards were superb, but Kirkpatrick and his men held firm, taking the rubber 3-1. Surprisingly, given his fine performances, Ian was not selected for the tour to France later in the year, and so that victory over the Lions would prove to be the end of a great career. He had played 38 consecutive tests since 1968 and was at that point New Zealand's leading try scorer with a total of 16. (Jon Collins)
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