Wayne Shelford

Rugger | name = Wayne "Buck" Shelford


fullname = Wayne Thomas Shelford
also known as = "Buck" Shelford
birthyear = 1957
birthmonth =12
birthday =13
placeofbirth= Rotorua, New Zealand
death_date =
death_place =
height = height|m=1.89
weight = convert|93|kg|stlb|abbr=on
ru_amateuryears = 1991-1997 1974-1991
ru_amateurclubs = Northampton North Shore
ru_position =No. 8
ru_nationalteam = New Zealand
ru_nationalcaps = 22
ru_nationalpoints = (20)
ru_nationalyears = 1986-1990
ru_province = North Harbour Auckland
ru_provinceyears = 1985-1991 1982-1985
ru_provincecaps =
ru_provincepoints =
ru_ntupdate = 1 November 2006
ru_provinceupdate = 1 November 2006
ru_coachyears = 2002-2003 1997-2002
ru_coachclubs = Saracens North Harbour
ru_coachupdate = unverified
ru_amupdate= 1 November 2006
other = yes
nickname = Buck
gender = Male
status = Married
school = Western Heights High School
family =
spouse = Joanna Shelford
children = Lia Shelford
Eruera Shelford
Mitchell Happu (god-son)
relatives = Adrian Shelford
ethnic = Māori
religion =
salary =
networth =
URL =

Wayne Thomas "Buck" Shelford (born 13 December 1957 in Rotorua) is a former rugby union footballer and coach who represented and captained the All Blacks in the late 1980s. He is also credited with bringing about the improved performance of the All Blacks traditional "Ka Mate" haka.

After playing for Western Heights High School First XV, Shelford was selected for the Bay of Plenty Secondary Schools and Auckland age grade sides, and made his Auckland provincial debut in 1982. In 1985, when the North Harbour Rugby Union was created, he moved with it as his club side was a member. This was the same year he was first selected for the All Blacks, for the later abandoned South Africa tour.

Shelford's first game for the All Blacks was against Club Atlético San Isidro in Buenos Aires on 12 October 1985. He then joined the unauthorized Cavaliers tour of South Africa in 1986, which included 28 of the 30 players selected for the original tour [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/rugby/1999/world_cup/news/1999/10/28/nzealand_factfile/ CNN/SI - 1999 Rugby World Cup - New Zealand's Factfile - Thursday October 28, 1999 07:08 PM ] ] .

Shelford made his Test debut for the All Blacks later that year against France in a 19–7 victory in Toulouse, and then was a notable victim of the infamous "Battle of Nantes" in the second Test. Roughly 20 minutes into the match, he was caught at the bottom of a rather aggressive ruck, and an errant French boot found its way into Shelford's groin, somehow ripping his scrotum and leaving one testicle hanging free. He also lost four teeth in the process. Incredibly, after discovering the injury to his scrotum, he calmly asked the physio to stitch up the tear and returned to the field before a blow to his head left him concussed. He was substituted and watched the remainder of the game from the grandstand where he witnessed the All Blacks lose 16–3. To this day Shelford has no memory of the game. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/2354565.stm Buck's All Blacks fizz] ]

In 1987, the first Rugby World Cup was held in New Zealand. Shelford played in five of the six All Blacks games and was a member of the team that won the final against France 29–9.

Shelford took over as All Black captain after the World Cup, first captaining the side during the 1987 tour of Japan. During his captaincy from 1987 to 1990, the All Blacks did not lose a game, only drawing once against Australia in 1988.

Upon becoming captain, Shelford brought his teammates to Te Aute College, a Māori school, to see the students perform a traditional haka. Although the All Blacks had been performing the haka at the start of their matches since the team's inception, it was Shelford who taught them the proper way to perform the "Ka Mate," the haka they still use to this day at the start of their matches.

In 1990, the All Black selectors decided that Shelford was not up to the standard for the team and was controversially dropped after the test series against Scotland. The general public were unhappy with this decision, especially when the All Blacks lost the third test of their next series against Australia, ending a 17-test winning streak (and 49 game streak including non-tests) [http://www.planetnz.com/rugbyheads/section.php?section=askbtarchive] . After this fans started appearing at games with signs saying "Bring Back Buck", which continues even to this day at sporting events throughout New Zealand.

Although Shelford never regained his place in the All Black side, he was the captain of the New Zealand XV that played Romania in the Soviet Union and New Zealand B team that played Australia. He had played 48 All Blacks games including 22 tests and had captained the side 31 times, including 14 tests. He also scored 22 tries in total in his All Blacks career.

Shelford retired from playing all rugby in 1991 and coached for some time in Britain. He returned to New Zealand and was the assistant coach of the North Harbour team in 1997 and coach in 1998. Currently Shelford is coaching at his former club North Shore in Devonport.

Personal life

Shelford has two children to his wife Joanne: Lia (born 1981) and Eruera (born 1985) as well as having adopted his god-son, Mitchell Haapu (born 1987).

On 23 June 2007, Shelford revealed that he was receiving treatment for the form of cancer known as lymphoma. He told Newstalk ZB's Murray Deaker that he wanted his privacy respected as he focused on his recovery and said he would not be making any further personal statements [ [http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1196264 Shelford receiving cancer treatment] ] .

References

External links

*All Blacks|id=788|name=Wayne Shelford
* [http://www.rugbymuseum.co.nz/ABProfilee.asp?level1=All_Blacks&Level2=ABC&IDID=788 Rugby Museum profile]