Richard Alexander "Tiny" White (11 June 1925 – 10 March 2012) 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 ...

footballer. He played 23 tests and 55 games 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 ...

Early life

Richard Alexander White was educated at

Gisborne Boys' High School Gisborne Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school situated in Gisborne, New Zealand. It was founded as a co-educational school in 1909 as Gisborne High School. In 1956, the school became Gisborne Boys' High School when it was split into two ...

and

Feilding Agricultural High School "Have Courage, Desire Greatly" , coordinates = , type = State Co-Ed Secondary School (Year 9–13) with boarding facilities , established = 1921 as Feilding Technical High School , MOE = 197 , principal = Nathan Stewart , ...

. It was at school that he earned the ironic nickname "Tiny". White was regarded as tall by 1940s standards.

Rugby career

Richard White played for Poverty Bay. He debuted for the All Blacks in 1949 by playing two tests against Australia and he immediately became an important player for them. He never missed a test match during his career and was only subbed off once in his career. White also played in thirty of the 36 games during the All Blacks

1953–54 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America The 1953–54 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America was a rugby union tour undertaken by the New Zealand national team which toured Europe and North America. The team was captained by Bob Stuart. Between O ...

, the most of any player. White was regarded as being excellent in the lineout. He was also very quick and had "incredible stamina." Terry McLean once remarked that he was "a wonderful player" who "played with matchless vigour, especially in the lineout." White was forced to retire from rugby at age thirty-two after he received a kick in the back. This along with his farming injuries and an almost paralyzed left hand was too much for him to continue playing. His final game was during the 1956 tour by South Africa. The All Blacks won the series 3–1 which was their first ever victory against South Africa in a test series.

Later life

White served as

mayor of Gisborne The Mayor of Gisborne officiates over the Gisborne District Gisborne District or the Gisborne Region (Māori: ''Te Tairāwhiti'' or ''Te Tai Rāwhiti'') is a local government area of northeastern New Zealand. It is governed by Gisborne Dist ...

from 1977 to 1983. He was also heavily involved in rugby, becoming president of the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union and continuing to coach some local sides. In the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

, White was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for public services. White died in Gisborne on 10 March 2012. The rower Chris White is his son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Richard 1925 births 2012 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union locks 20th-century New Zealand farmers Companions of the Queen's Service Order Mayors of Gisborne, New Zealand Poverty Bay rugby union players People educated at Feilding High School People educated at Gisborne Boys' High School New Zealand justices of the peace Rugby union players from Gisborne, New Zealand