Alexander John "Grizz" Wyllie (born 30 August 1944) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

former player and coach.

Playing career

Wyllie began his rugby career playing for Glenmark Rugby Club, in North Canterbury. During his first-class career he played for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

beginning in 1964 and played 210 matches for the province until 1979, serving as captain on over one hundred occasions. During this time, he was an integral part of such exploits for the province as the lifting of the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

in 1969 from Hawke's Bay and then in 1972 from Auckland as well as captaining the province to wins over international touring sides such as

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1973,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in 1975 and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1976. Wyllie became an

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

in 1970 when he was selected to tour South Africa where he played in the second and third Tests. In the next three years, he played forty matches for New Zealand, including eleven Tests, and was captain on three occasions. Although he was discarded as an All Black after 1973, Wyllie remained a prominent player for Canterbury until 1979.

Coaching

In 1982, Wyllie became coach of Canterbury and immediately enjoyed success when Canterbury won the

from

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and went on to hold the trophy for a record-equalling three years. Under his coaching, Canterbury won the National Provincial Championship (NPC) in 1983, and also recorded victories against international teams such as the British Lions in 1983 and the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

in 1986. In the

1986 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1986 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, Wyllie was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to rugby football. Wyllie became a national selector in 1986 and he and his Auckland rival John Hart had significant roles as assistant coaches to

Brian Lochore Sir Brian James Lochore (3 September 1940 – 3 August 2019) was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach who represented and captained the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. He played at number 8 and lock, as well as captaining the ...

when the All Blacks won the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two quarter-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 ...

. In 1988 Wyllie succeeded Lochore as coach, much to the annoyance of many, especially in Auckland, who favoured Hart. Despite initial success as All Black coach, a decline starting in the 1991 season led to the NZRFU appointing Hart as joint coach for the 1991 World Cup. After the unsuccessful campaign, Wyllie resigned while Hart was overlooked when

Laurie Mains Laurence William Mains (born 16 February 1946) is a former rugby union footballer and coach who represented New Zealand. Mains' representative career started when he first played for Otago in 1967. He made his All Blacks début in 1971, agains ...

was selected as All Black coach. In 1991 he also appeared as an All Black in the comedy film ''

Old Scores ''Old Scores'' is a 1991 television film jointly produced by New Zealand and Wales, about the two countries' mutual national sport of rugby union. It is notable for the appearance of many notable Welsh and New Zealand international rugby players ...

''. Wyllie went on to take various coaching roles in England, Ireland, South Africa and Argentina and from 1996-99 was in charge of the Argentina national side, taking the Pumas to the quarterfinals at the 1999 World Cup. In June 2009, Wyllie attended the retirement ceremony for Argentina national side Captain,

Agustín Pichot Agustín Pichot (born 22 August 1974, in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine rugby union player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club Bristol. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides Stade Français and Rac ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyllie, Alex New Zealand international rugby union players Living people 1944 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches Canterbury rugby union players New Zealand national rugby union team coaches Argentina national rugby union team coaches New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch Rugby union flankers