Andrew Maxwell Haden (26 September 195029 July 2020) was 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 ...

player and

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, ...

captain. He played at

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and New Zealand from 1972 until 1985. He also played club rugby in the United Kingdom and Italy.

Life and career

Haden was born in

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

on 26 September 1950. He attended Wanganui Boys' College. He made his All Black debut in 1972, and his Test debut against the British Lions in 1977, going on to make 41 Test appearances and scoring two tries. Of those 41 appearances, 8 were as captain of the All Blacks. Haden was noted for his powerful

scrummage A scrummage, commonly simply known as a scrum, is a method of restarting play in rugby football that involves players packing closely together with their heads down and attempting to gain possession of the ball. Depending on whether it is in rug ...

skills and for his imposing presence at the

lineout Line out can refer to: * Line out (signal), an analog electrical signal for connection between audio devices * Line-out (rugby union), a means of restarting play in rugby union * Lineout (baseball), a type of play in baseball when a player catches ...

. He played club rugby for Auckland, Harlequins in London and Algida Rome in Italy. Off the field, he published his autobiography, ''Boots ’n All'', in 1983. By receiving royalties from the book, he ostensibly tested the sport's strict amateurism rules in force back then. He ultimately prevailed, however, by claiming that being a writer was his profession. Haden was a controversial player, who was accused of cheating and unsporting conduct. The most infamous occurrence of this happened in a match against at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

in 1978. The score was 12–10 in Wales's favour, when Haden and another New Zealand player, Frank Oliver, suddenly fell to the ground as if pushed. The referee awarded a penalty in the dying moments of the match, which

Brian McKechnie Brian John McKechnie (born 6 November 1953) is a former " double All Black" - representing New Zealand in both rugby union and cricket. Rugby career He played 26 matches for the All Blacks as a first five-eighth and fullback, most memorably be ...

kicked, winning the game for New Zealand. Later, Welsh legend

J. P. R. Williams John Peter Rhys Williams (born 2 March 1949) is a former Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales in international rugby during their Golden Era in the 1970s. He became known universally as J. P. R. Williams (or sometimes just as JPR) aft ...

wrote that Haden should have been sent off. Despite the controversy however, the referee subsequently stated that the penalty had actually been awarded for an actual infringement against Oliver and not the Haden 'dive' as was thought. Haden did not, however, deny that the attempts to cheat the referee were pre-planned, something also confirmed by his captain

Graham Mourie Graham Neil Kenneth Mourie (born 8 September 1952) is a former New Zealand All Black flanker and coach of the Hurricanes. He was one of the great All Black captains in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was first selected for the All Blacks in ...

. The match happened on the same day as the annual 'Miss World' competition, which prompted Welsh cartoonist Gren to create a picture of the 'Miss World' event, but with Miss New Zealand lying on the floor, pretending to have been pushed. Haden made his last Test appearance in 1985 against .

Later years

Haden was an agent for various celebrities, including

Rachel Hunter Rachel Hunter (born 8 September 1969) is a New Zealand model, actress and the host of Imagination Television's ''Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty''. She has appeared on several magazine covers, including ''Vogue'', ''Elle'', ''Rolling Stone'', ' ...

. He was given the honorary position of Rugby World Cup Ambassador in 2010, but resigned the post after making controversial statements about a racial quota he alleged the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

to be operating, calling Polynesians "darkies", and then suggesting women raped by sports stars may be partly to blame. In 2003, Haden announced that he was beginning chemotherapy for

chronic lymphocytic leukaemia Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Early on, there are typically no symptoms. Later, non-painful lymph node swelling, feeling tired, fever, nigh ...

. He overcame this bout of illness, but in February 2020 was diagnosed with lymphoma. He consequently died of lymphoma on 29 July 2020, at his home in Auckland. He was 69 years old.

References

External links

Sporting-Heroes.Net
– a profile and picture of Andy Haden * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haden, Andy 1950 births 2020 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union locks Ponsonby RFC players Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Rugby union players from Whanganui People educated at Whanganui City College Deaths from chronic lymphocytic leukemia Deaths from lymphoma