#555 Richard Alexander ‘Tiny’ White
(Poverty Bay – HSOB 1949,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57)
All Black Tiny White passes on to Dalzell when tackled by the Welsh wing forward R.C.C. Thomas during the 13-8 win for the Welsh at Cardiff Arms Park
New Zealand Herald Archives NZH 03aug11 –
His Full record is :
- White, Richard Alexander ‘Tiny’ (Capt) – Gisborne HSOB – (Poverty Bay) b 11.6.1925, Gisborne.
- Poverty Bay (HSOB) 1949(5)–50(6)–51(3)–52(5) –53(7) –54(8) – 55(6) –56(5) -57,46g, 6t;
- Poverty Bay-East Coast 1949-55-56 (2), 1t;
- Poverty Bay-East Coast-BoP 1950 (2);
- Barbarians Club 1950-52-56;
- Olympians Club 1950;
- Spartans Club 1954-55, 1t;
- North Island 1949-50-51-52-53-54-55-56, 8g, 2t;
- NZ Trials 1950-53-56;
- NZ Touring Team 1954;
- Rest of NZ 1956;
- New Zealand XV 1949-52-54-55 (2) – 56 (2), 7g, 1t;
- NEW ZEALAND 1949 (2) – 50 (4) – 51 (10) – 52 (2) -53 (30) – 55 (3 )- 56 (4), 55g (23 tests), 12t, 36pts.
- Career: 133g, 13t, 69pts.
- Lock.
- ed Ngatapa PS; Gisborne DHS 1940; Feilding Agric HS, XV 1941-42.
- Farmer Served in 22 Battalion with J-Force in Japan 1946-48
- Mayor of Gisborne 1977-83.
- Queen’s Service Order (QSO) for public service 1999.
- Died 10.3.2012, Gisborne, aged 86
NEW ZEALAND 1949,50,51,52,53,55,56 – 55g (23 TESTS)
Tiny White – ALL BLACK #511
| Always known by the nickname, “Tiny,” Richard White was one of the greatest All Black forwards of the 1950s and, while he may have been eclipsed a decade or so later by one of his test successor’s, Colin Meads, he ranks still as one of the best of all New Zealand locks.
White owed his nickname to an ironic reference to his size. By modern standards he was not exceptionally huge, standing around 1.88m and weighing not much more than 97kg. But he gave an illusion of an imposing physique for he had a craggy, wiry build derived from a considerable natural strength and developed from working the land as a Poverty Bay farmer. As did Meads and his brother Stan from King Country and Brian Lochore in the 1960s from Wairarapa, White illustrated that that in his era it was still possible to reach the top of New Zealand rugby while based in a rural union. Though he first became prominent with army teams in the immediate post World War II years, White played all of his representative rugby (46 matches in all between 1949 and 1957 plus another six, mainly for composite sides against touring sides such as the Lions, the Wallabies and the Springboks), for Poverty Bay. White returned from his army service in Japan with such a high reputation he was immediately chosen in the All Black selection which played two tests against the touring Australians in 1949. That was the beginning of an unbroken span in the All Blacks until the leading role he had in the 1956 test series against the Springboks when he scored tries in each of the first and third tests, adding to the try he had scored in the first test against the Wallabies in Christchurch in 1952. White in 1949-56 played in 23 consecutive tests and it is a reflection of how much test schedules have changed over 50 years that when he retired that was the New Zealand international record. Again, as an illustration as to how expanded playing schedules have become, White stepped away from the game in 1957 with legendary status with a comparatively modest tally of first class appearances of 132. Besides the series against the Springboks, when he and Bob Duff were a formidable locking pair, the peak of White’s All Black career came on the 1953-54 tour of Britain and France. White played in 30 of the 36 matches, which the noted critic Terry McLean, in his tour book, “Bob Stuart’s All Blacks,” described as an “astonishing feat.” McLean and all other critics of the time were unanimous that White was one of the greatest forwards in New Zealand rugby history. “… He played with matchless vigour, especially in the lineout,” wrote McLean, adding that, apart from a fault of trying too much on his own in the loose, he was “a wonderful player.” White served his club, Gisborne High School Old Boys, and the Poverty Bay union in administrative roles and was prominent in local body politics, serving two terms as the mayor of Gisborne. One son, David, played representative rugby for Canterbury while studying at Lincoln College and Wairarapa-Bush whilst another, Chris, became an outstanding international oarsman. Profile by Lindsay Knight |
| FULL NAME | Richard Alexander White |
| BORN | Thursday, 11 June 1925 in Gisborne, New Zealand |
| DIED | Saturday, 10 March 2012 in Gisborne |
| PHYSICAL | 1.88m, 101kg |
| POSITION | Lock |
| LAST SCHOOL | Feilding High (FAHS) |
| RUGBY CLUB (First made All Blacks from) |
Gisborne HSOB |
| PROVINCE | Poverty Bay CAP # 555 |
| NICKNAME | Tiny |
| ALL BLACK DEBUT | Saturday, 3 September 1949 v Australia at Wellington aged 24 years, 84 days |
| INTERNATIONAL DEBUT | Saturday, 3 September 1949 v Australia at Wellington aged 24 years, 84 days |
| LAST TEST | Saturday, 1 September 1956 v South Africa at Auckland aged 31 years, 82 days |
| ALL BLACK TESTS | 23 23 |
| ALL BLACK GAMES | 32 32 |
| TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES | 55 55 |
| STARTING POSITIONS | Jersey Number 4 : 7 Jersey Number 5 : 16 |
| ALL BLACK TEST POINTS | 9pts (3t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
| ALL BLACK GAME POINTS | 27pts (9t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
| TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS | 36pts (12t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
| ALL BLACK NUMBER | 511 |
ALL BLACK GAMES THAT WHITE PLAYED(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced |
| Click on the date below to view the Match Card |
1949 |
| 3 Sep vs Australia at Wellington 6-11 |
| 24 Sep vs Australia at Auckland 9-16 |
1950 |
| 27 May vs British & Irish Lions at Dunedin 9-9 |
| 10 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Christchurch 8-0 |
| 1 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 6-3 |
| 29 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Auckland 11-8 |
1951 |
| 11 Jun vs Newcastle at Newcastle 20-6 |
| 16 Jun vs N.S.W. at Sydney 24-3 |
| 23 Jun vs Australia at Sydney 8-0 |
| 27 Jun vs Central-Western Districts at Parkes 65-6 |
| 4 Jul vs Combined XV at Wagga Wagga 48-10 |
| 7 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 17-11 |
| 11 Jul vs New England at Armidale 49-6 |
| 18 Jul vs Brisbane at Brisbane 29-9 |
| 21 Jul vs Australia at Brisbane 16-6 |
| 24 Jul vs Auckland at Auckland 9-3 |
1952 |
| 6 Sep vs Australia at Christchurch 9-14 |
| 13 Sep vs Australia at Wellington 15-8 |
1953 |
| 31 Oct vs Southern Counties at Hove 24-0 |
| 4 Nov vs Cambridge University at Cambridge 22-11 |
| 7 Nov vs London Counties at London 11-0 |
| 14 Nov vs Western Counties at Bristol 11-0 |
| 17 Nov vs Llanelli at Llanelli 17-3 |
| 21 Nov vs Cardiff at Cardiff 3-8 |
| 25 Nov vs Glasgow and Edinburgh at Glasgow 23-3 |
| 2 Dec vs North of Scotland at Aberdeen 28-3 |
| 5 Dec vs Leicestershire and East Midlands at Leicester 3-0 |
| 12 Dec vs Swansea at Swansea 6-6 |
| 19 Dec vs Wales at Cardiff 8-13 |
| 23 Dec vs Abertillery and Ebbw Vale at Abertillery 22-3 |
| 26 Dec vs Combined Services at London 40-8 |
| 30 Dec vs Midland Counties at Birmingham 18-3 |
1954 |
| 2 Jan vs Ulster at Belfast 5-5 |
| 9 Jan vs Ireland at Dublin 14-3 |
| 16 Jan vs Pontypool and Cross Keys at Pontypool 19-6 |
| 23 Jan vs Neath and Aberavon at Neath 11-5 |
| 30 Jan vs England at London 5-0 |
| 6 Feb vs North-Eastern Counties at Bradford 16-0 |
| 13 Feb vs Scotland at Edinburgh 3-0 |
| 17 Feb vs North-Western Counties at Manchester 17-3 |
| 20 Feb vs Barbarians at Cardiff 19-5 |
| 24 Feb vs South-West France at Bordeaux 8-11 |
| 27 Feb vs France at Paris 0-3 |
| 1 Mar vs South-Eastern Counties at Ipswich 21-13 |
| 11 Mar vs University of British Columbia at Vancouver 42-3 |
| 13 Mar vs British Columbia Mainland at Vancouver 37-11 |
| 17 Mar vs University of California at Berkeley 14-6 |
| 20 Mar vs California All Stars at San Francisco 20-0 |
1955 |
| 20 Aug vs Australia at Wellington 16-8 |
| 3 Sep vs Australia at Dunedin 8-0 |
| 17 Sep vs Australia at Auckland 3-8 |
1956 |
| 14 Jul vs South Africa at Dunedin 10-6 |
| 4 Aug vs South Africa at Wellington 3-8 |
| 18 Aug vs South Africa at Christchurch 17-10 |
| 1 Sep vs South Africa at Auckland 11-5 |
POINTS SCORED FOR THE ALL BLACKS |
t | c | p | dg | pts |
| vs New England, 11 Jul 1951 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Brisbane, 18 Jul 1951 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Auckland, 24 Jul 1951 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Australia, 6 Sep 1952 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Llanelli, 17 Nov 1953 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Combined Services, 26 Dec 1953 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Barbarians, 20 Feb 1954 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs University of California, 17 Mar 1954 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs California All Stars, 20 Mar 1954 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| vs South Africa, 14 Jul 1956 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs South Africa, 18 Aug 1956 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| Totals | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
TEST RECORD BY NATION |
P | W | D | L | t | c | p | dg | pts |
| Australia | 10 | 6 | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| British & Irish Lions | 4 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| England | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| France | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ireland | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Scotland | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| South Africa | 4 | 3 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| Wales | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 23 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
