Twinkle-toed wings

Press, 9 August 1988, Page 34

Twinkle-toed wings

Two All Black wings who were so small that they were occasionally mistaken for ballboys rank high among the passing parade of rugby notables who spent part of their footballing life in the Bay of Plenty. Their names were Albert Asher and Grant Batty, both only sft 4in in their socks, and 70 years apart in Rugby history. But they rate with the Kirwans and the Foxes in the list of renowned All Black match-winners. Asher reputedly played for Tauranga against Auckland at the age of 13, in the days when areas of the Bay of Plenty were part of the Auckland union’s territory. Later, the little man shifted to Auckland city, and made his name on the 1903 New Zealand side’s tour of Australia. Old-timers used to aver that this was the greatest New Zealand rugby side of all time. It was unbeaten, and Asher scored 17 tries — a figure which was equalled 54 years later, but has never been beaten on an Australian tour. He was dubbed “Opai,” after a racehorse which won the Great Northern hurdles in 1898, because of his technique of hurdling potential tacklers. Australians preferred to call him the “India Rubber Man.” Batty did not need to hurdle opponents, because he had the ability to run sideways without losing momentum. Many a tough tackler was left openmouthed as “Batts” buzzed around him like a bee. He scored 21 tries on the 1972-73 tour of Britain and France, when he was only 21 years old, and the last of his 45 tries for his country was his sensational intercept and runaway effort against the 1977 Lions in Wellington. Before a severe knee injury ended his career, Batty had the unusual record of having lived in Tauranga for three of his All Black years (1975, 76, 77) but never playing for Bay of Plenty. This was because of injuries and the trip to South Africa in 1976. Anyway, “Batts” is one of three All Blacks claimed by the quaintly named Tauranga club, Otumoetai Cadets — the

others are Greg Rowlands and Gary Braid. The Bay is a far-flung union, split into six subunions, but it is renowned as an area which produces big, blockbusting

forwards and slick, smart bcicks Manu Maniapoto, his brother, Jim, Arthur Jennings, Dinny Mohi, Eric Anderson and Paul Scott