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By his own admission, Bill Bush was an unlikely All Black. A kina diver at primary school and a labourer at Marsden Point refinery at 14, Bill was keener on swimming.
It took the promise of a bit of kai – Fanta and a mince pie – to lure him into his first game of rugby as an 11-year-old for the Wairaka Marae third-grade side.
“I did go to Rugby Park in Whakatāne after rugby games, but it was only to collect empty bottles to earn enough to get into the local picture theatre,” he recalls. “When I was asked why I wasn’t playing rugby, I’d reply, ‘Oh, no... it’s too rough for me!’
“Honestly, for a long time I couldn’t get over how the hell I’d got into the All Blacks team! It feels like I didn’t pick rugby – it picked me.”
The reluctant player became a fearsome, revered All Black prop in the 1970s,
