Dave Halligan was your typical talented University back — hugely gifted, skilful, determined and a bit ahead of his time. Like many who wore the Cambridge blue, he played his best rugby in the South. He tragically died of a heart attack, aged 61, last week.
Halligan was born in Putaruru, the same place as Wayne Smith, and then went to King’s College in Auckland.
He ventured south in the late 1970s and soon found himself in the University Blues colts side.
Hisskill with the ball — he could play either first five-eighth or fullback — and ability to see space, soon had him up in the senior University side. He made his debut for Otago in 1979 and looked the part straight away at that level.
His talent was clear for all to see.
He pulled out an absolute blinder, scoring all his side’s points in a 16-9 victory and was duly picked in the All Black team to take on Scotland in June. Halligan had to be picked — there was no point of having a trial if he did not get called up.
But on the Wednesday before the test, which was to be played at Carisbrook, Halligan felt his quad go at the first training session. This was in the amateur days when teams assembled only a few days before the game was played.
Evan Taylor, who coached Halligan at University, said it was a real shame.
‘‘He was desperately unlucky not to play. He could have played in the test but he knew he would not have been at his best and he just couldn’t do that,’’ he said.
‘‘So Alan Hewson came in, played well and never looked back. He [Halligan] sat on the bench for three tests against Australia in 1982 but he never got on.’’
That is hard to believe these days when the game is all about impact players and changing the game with substitutions.
Taylor said Halligan was a class player.
‘‘He was an extremely talented rugby player, a beautiful player to watch. All the top players have time and that is what he had.
‘‘He lived life to the full. One of his nicknames was Hooligan. He liked a good time.’’ Ken Hodge played with Halligan at the University club and said he was a top player.
‘‘He was one of those who started place-kicking for touch. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said [to be] more accurate and get more distance,’’ Hodge said. ‘‘But he was just such a talented player.’’ Hodge said Halligan just loved the game.
‘‘He wasn’t one of those guys who lived for the history of the game. But he loved to play. In those days the game was quite conservative but he was still brave enough to have a go. He was one of those players who had an amazing ability to see space and a sixth sense to get through the line.’’
He was an adept drop-kicker, with his canny left foot. He kicked 16 dropped goals for University over the years, including three in one game.
Halligan left Otago at the end of 1982 after 43 games for Otago and went to Auckland. He played a couple of seasons there but drifted away from playing the game.
But his University days were never forgotten. Just last year he got in contact with the University club and wanted to donate his white All Black jersey to the club. It had been sitting at the Northcote Rugby Club in North Harbour for 20-plus years.
It duly arrived and was put up on the wall at the clubrooms in October last year.
‘‘In 1981, I was at Otago University playing club rugby for the Varsity As while occasionally attending lectures, and it is fitting that the jersey resides there. That wonderful club is very much embedded in my rugby heart and soul,’’ Halligan wrote to the club.
Halligan had worked in various business jobs but in later years had grown into mentoring fathers and families on parenting skills and stopping violence. He had gone back to university to do postgraduate study in violence prevention and traumatic work.
Hodge said Halligan was never bothered about getting picked to play for the All Blacks but never played.
‘‘He found it quite funny that it was on a Speight’s bottle top and was a Trivial Pursuit question. He just thought he was doing the right thing by not playing as he was injured.’’