Sir Wilson James Whineray (10 July 1935 – 22 October 2012) was a New Zealand business executive and rugby union player. He was the longest-serving captain of the national rugby union 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 ...

, until surpassed by

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...

in 2014. Rugby writer

Terry McLean Sir Terence Power McLean (15 July 1913 – 11 July 2004), often known simply by his initials as T. P. McLean, was a New Zealand sports journalist and author specialising in rugby union. Early life and family McLean was born in Wanganui and di ...

considered him the All Blacks' greatest captain.

Domestic career

Owing to his early career as an agricultural cadet, which involved considerable travel around the country, Whineray played for six first-class teams, including

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of C ...

, Manawatu,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

, and finally his hometown team,

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 ...

, for whom he made 61 appearances between 1959 and 1966. He also played for the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, and New Zealand Universities sides.

International career

He first played for the All Blacks in 1957. The following year he became captain for the 1958 series against Australia at the young age of 23. He went on to play 77 matches for the All Blacks between 1957 and 1965, 67 of them as captain. These included 32

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

es, all but two of them as captain. He played mostly in the position of

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. Whineray was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE), for services to sport, especially to rugby football, in the

1962 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1962 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lon ...

, and he was named New Zealand Sportsperson of the Year in 1965.

Later life

After retiring from rugby, he gained a

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he was a member of the

Harvard Business School RFC The Harvard Business School RFC is a rugby union team based at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. The club formerly competed in the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) and is composed of graduate students from throughout Harva ...

. He returned to New Zealand in 1969 and started work at Alex Harvey Industries, which became

Carter Holt Harvey __NOTOC__ Carter Holt Harvey Limited is a privately-owned New Zealand-based company controlled by Rank Group Limited, the corporate vehicle of the country's richest man, Graeme Hart. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the company has three main div ...

. He rose to become deputy managing director, then chairman of the board of Carter Holt Harvey, by then a major New Zealand company, and retired from the board in 2003. He was the managing director of NZ Wool Marketing Corporation in 1973–74, chairman of the

National Bank of New Zealand The National Bank of New Zealand Limited (NBNZ), often referred to as The National Bank, was one of New Zealand's largest banks. Throughout much of its history, the National Bank provided commercial banking services to mainly major industrial and ...

, and a director of

Auckland International Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and List of the busiest airports in New Zealand, busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airp ...

and

APN News & Media Here, There & Everywhere (HT&E), formerly known as APN News & Media, is an Australian media company. Divisions include broadcast radio and Out-of-home advertising. The company previously had assets in New Zealand, and previously owned Adshel ...

. He was chairman of the

Hillary Commission Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) (Māori: ''Ihi Aotearoa'') is a New Zealand Crown entity responsible for governing sport and recreation in New Zealand. Sport NZ believes sport is an integral part of New Zealand's culture and way of life. The org ...

, a sports funding body, from 1993 to 1998. He was the honorary Colonel Commandant of the

New Zealand Special Air Service The 1st New Zealand Special Air Service Regiment, abbreviated as 1 NZSAS Regt, was formed on 7 July 1955 and is the Special forces unit of the New Zealand Army, closely modelled on the British Special Air Service (SAS). It traces its origins to ...

from 1997 to 2001. In the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, Whineray was appointed a

Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

(KNZM), for services to sport and business management. In November 2004, it was reported that Whineray was a top contender to replace Dame

Silvia Cartwright Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright (née Poulter; born 7 November 1943) is a New Zealand jurist who served as the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 2001 to 2006. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Dame Catherine Tizard. Early ...

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

in 2006. Bob Howitt has said that, "had he allowed his name to go forward, he would have become the Governor-General". He became the first New Zealander inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

, being elected on 21 October 2007 (following the IRB World Cup in France) after a public vote. He died in Auckland in 2012, at the age of 77. He was buried at Purewa Cemetery in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank.

All Blacks statistics

*Tests: 32 (30 as captain) *Games: 45 (37 as captain) *Total matches: 77 (67 as captain) *Test points: 6 (2 tries) *Game points: 18 (5 tries, 1 dropped goal) *Total points: 24 (7 tries, 1 dropped goal)

Domestic career

International career

Later life

All Blacks statistics

References

Further reading