Grant Bernard Batty (born 31 August 1951 in Greytown,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

) is a former

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 it ...

footballer. A diminutive but effective

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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, ...

, Batty played domestically for

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 metr ...

and

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

. After retiring, he coached Yamaha Jubilo, a team in Japan's

Top League Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...

. He was also known as “Twinkle Toes, Pocket Rocket or, as his awesome Grandson would call him, Grandpapa. Batty won the New Zealand Superstars competition three years running, 1977–1979. "Grant Batty" a biography by Bob Howitt was published in 1977 by Rugby Press Limited (ISBM 0 9597553 0 6). This states Grant played 102 first class matches and scored 109 tries. He stated his 3 favourite tries out of the 45 he scored for New Zealand to be: * his try against the British Lions at Athletic Park on 18 June 1977 won 16-12 by the All Blacks. Batty intercepted a pass thrown by Trefor Evans and ran over 50 metres to score the try chased by

Graham Price Graham Price MBE (born 24 November 1951 in Moascar, Egypt) is a former Welsh rugby union player, who was a member of the famous Pontypool RFC front row known as the "Viet Gwent". He won 41 caps for , and a record 12 for the British and Irish L ...

and the fast gaining Andy Irvine. This was Batty's last test match. * his second try against the Barbarians at Cardiff on 27 January 1973. The All Blacks lost that game 11-23 but Batty said he had previously tried and failed twice to beat J.P.R. Williams so he tried a kick and won the chase. * his second try against

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on 18 May 1974 when the All Blacks won 20–0 at Sydney. His teammate Duncan Robertson pumped a high kick to the opposition's goal line which dropped into Batty's arms.

Views of other rugby players

Chris Laidlaw likened Batty to Robert Muldoon, 'small, stunted and radiating a single message to all around him: "Don't mess with me or I'll punch your lights out."' (Rights of passage : beyond the New Zealand identity crisis : Laidlaw, Chris, Auckland, N.Z. : Hodder Moa Beckett, 1999. p. 101.)

External links

* 1951 births Bay of Plenty rugby union players Living people New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union wings People from Greytown, New Zealand People educated at Kuranui College {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1950s-stub