Brian John McKechnie (born 6 November 1953) is a former " double All Black" - representing New Zealand in both

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 ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Rugby career

He played 26 matches for the

All Blacks 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 ...

as a

first five-eighth In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

and fullback, most memorably being the player to kick the winning penalty goal against Wales in 1978 when

Andy Haden Andrew Maxwell Haden (26 September 195029 July 2020) was a New Zealand rugby union player and All Black captain. He played at lock for Auckland and New Zealand from 1972 until 1985. He also played club rugby in the United Kingdom and Italy. Lif ...

dived out off a

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 ...

near full-time and was apparently awarded a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

(the referee later said the penalty was for a completely separate incident and was clearly visible in video footage) which would secure the "

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

" for the All Blacks against the home country unions.

Cricketing career

As a cricketer, McKechnie was an economical right-arm pace bowler and useful lower-order batsman who played 14 one day games for the

Black Caps The New Zealand national cricket team represents New Zealand in men's international cricket. Named the Black Caps, they played their first Test cricket, Test in 1930 against England cricket team, England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth cou ...

, including the 1975 and 1979 World Cup tournaments in England. His last match for New Zealand was the infamous " underarm match" against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1981, when McKechnie was the batsman who faced

Trevor Chappell Trevor Martin Chappell (born 12 October 1952) is a former Australian cricketer, a member of the South Australian Chappell family which excelled at cricket. He played 3 tests and 20 One Day Internationals for Australia. He won the Sheffield Shi ...

underarm delivery Underarm bowling is a style of bowling in cricket. The style is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the roundarm style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in the sport of bowls, with ...

in the final ball of the match, throwing his bat away in rage after blocking the delivery. McKechnie represented Otago in domestic competitions from 1971–72 to 1985–86. He later served on the national selection panel.

Beyond sports

With Lynn McConnell, he wrote ''McKechnie: Double All Black: An Autobiography'' (Craigs, Invercargill) in 1983.Nat Lib of NZ
Retrieved 1 December 2012.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKechnie, Brian 1953 births New Zealand international rugby union players Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup People educated at Southland Boys' High School Living people New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand cricketers New Zealand One Day International cricketers Otago cricketers Southland cricketers People from Gore, New Zealand Southland rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Southland, New Zealand