"He was a very fine representative of the black jersey and the silver fern," says former commentator Keith Quinn. In 1978, Haden's tactical thinking was as prominent as ever when, down by two points, he took a dive at the lineout that's since been etched into rugby folklore. "The real thing was his ability to think on the field and have conversations that allowed us to do what we were doing better at the time," says NZ Rugby president and former teammate Bill Osbourne. At nearly two metres tall, he was hard to miss.īut on the field it was his brain, rather than his brawn, that set him apart. Haden was a giant in every sense of the word. But for me, no man ran him closer than Andy Haden." "To this point, they're more or less right.
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"New Zealand thought they'd never seen another Colin Meads," FitzSimons tells Newshub.
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On Wednesday, Haden died at the age of 69, prompting an outpouring of tributes.įormer Wallaby Peter FitzSimons, who played against the Aucklander, insists Haden was among the best we've ever produced. One of Andy Haden's biggest rivals has paid him the ultimate compliment, describing him as a genuine rival to Sir Colin Meads as the greatest All Blacks lock of all time. Tributes flow for pioneering All Black Andy Haden