Nelson man Russell King has just published a book called Gentle Giant — on tour with the Jubilee All Blacks.
King is the son of Ron King, a lock who played for West Coast and played 13 tests in a row for the All Blacks in the 1930s. He also captained the All Black team in the series against the Springboks in 1937, a series won by the South Africans.
Russell King (80) said it had been a lifelong dream to publish something about his father.
He had come to the conclusion his father was the "forgotten man" of NZ rugby, especially on the West Coast, where his achievements have never become prominent.
Former Otago Daily Times columnist Gordon Parry had written about Ron King in a column in the newspaper in 2003. Russell was in Dunedin and made contact with Parry and they discussed his father.
King had clippings and scrapbooks on his father’s All Black career and after the discussion with Parry a book became more than just an idea.
Many years’ work have eventually led to the publication of the book. It is written in the style of a novel and follows King and his team-mates as they tour around the United Kingdom on the 1935-36 tour.
The side played 30 games, with 26 victories, a draw with Ulster and losses to Swansea, Wales and England.
Russell King said the side, and King, were rather forgotten by the general public, because the team had to follow in the footsteps of both the Originals side and the Invincibles. Those sides lost just one game in two tours while the team of 1935-36 lost three games.
"But people do not realise how much harder the Jubilee team had it. When the Originals toured and when the Invincibles toured, the Home Nation sides were poor. Football was the dominant sport and then World War 1 had made a real impact on the players available for the sides," he said.
"Back then, the first sides played against scratch sides which were just put together. But by the 1930s rugby had become the sport of choice for the public schools and those guys had worked their way through the system. The sides the All Blacks played against were full county sides who were well organised and had played together."
Ron King played until 1938 and then retired. His son said he had been rather forgotten by even those on the West Coast.
He was the only All Black from the Westland High School, formerly Hokitika District High, but that is not celebrated by the school.
The clubs he played for, Cobden in Greymouth and Excelsior in Hokitika, have also fallen by the wayside, Russell King said.
The book features many newspaper articles about various games.
King said 20 years of work had gone into the book, which he was extremely proud of.
His father went on to become a publican and operated hotels on the West Coast. He was also an All Black selector and coach from 1957-60.
Ron King died in Greymouth in 1988, aged 78.
