Kelvin Robin Tremain (21 February 1938 – 2 May 1992) 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 administrator. A flanker, he won 38 full caps for the New Zealand national team, 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 ...

, between 1959 and 1968, scoring nine tries. During the 1960s he had a status in New Zealand rugby comparable to that of his teammate,

Colin Meads Sir Colin Earl Meads (3 June 1936 – 20 August 2017) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He played 55 test matches (133 games), most frequently in the lock forward position, for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks, from 1957 until 19 ...

Biography

Born in

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 ...

on 21 February 1938, Tremain was educated at

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, where he played in the 1st XV rugby team in 1954 and 1955. After leaving school, he became an agricultural field cadet, which took him all over the country, including stints studying at

Massey Massey may refer to: Places Canada * Massey, Ontario * Massey Island, Nunavut New Zealand * Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb United States * Massey, Alabama * Massey, Iowa * Massey, Maryland People * Massey (surname) Educati ...

and Canterbury Agricultural Colleges. As a result, he played for five different provincial teams: , , , , and . It was with the latter team that he made the greatest contribution, appearing in 96 games between 1962 and 1970, and becoming team captain. Tremain made two appearances for the South Island and seven for the North Island in interisland matches, and was captain of the New Zealand Universities side that toured North America in 1961. He made his All Blacks debut in 1959, playing in three tests against the touring British and Irish Lions. After touring with the New Zealand team to Australia and South Africa in 1960, Tremain was generally regarded as an automatic selection for the team, and he gained a status alongside his contemporary, Colin Meads, as one of the greats of New Zealand rugby. He continued playing for New Zealand until 1968, captaining the side in three matches in his final year. He was controversially omitted from the team in 1969. In all, Tremain played 86 matches for the All Blacks—38 of them full internationals—and scored 108 points (36 tries), including nine Test tries. A prolific scorer, Tremain scored 136 tries in his 268 first-class appearances. After retiring as a player, Tremain served the game as an administrator. He was chairman of the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union between 1985 and 1990 and a member of the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

council from 1990. Tremain died in Napier on 2 May 1992. His sons include

Chris Tremain Christopher James Tremain (born 1966) is a New Zealand businessman and retired politician. He served as member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party from until his retirement in 2014. Family and personal life Bo ...

, who served as the Member of Parliament for Napier between 2005 and 2014, and Simon Tremain, who represented , and Hawke's Bay in rugby union.

Legacy

Tremain has been inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall o ...

. The Kelvin Tremain Memorial Trophy, named in his memory, is awarded annually to New Zealand's outstanding rugby player of the year. In 1986, Tremain and Russell Pettigrew founded the New Zealand Rugby Foundation, which assists seriously injured rugby players.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tremain, Kel 1938 births 1992 deaths Rugby union players from Auckland People educated at Auckland Grammar School New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Southland rugby union players Manawatu rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Hawke's Bay rugby union players Rugby union flankers New Zealand Rugby Football Union officials