Ian Kirkpatrick

Ian Andrew Kirkpatrick ( born May 24, 1946 in Gisborne ) is a former New Zealand rugby union player.

He began his career at the age of 20 years at the Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union. A year later he moved to Canterbury Rugby Football Union and established itself in the regional selection team. In October 1967, he was first appointed to the cadres of the All Blacks, the national team on 25 November of the same year he played his first international match in Paris against France.

His international career lasted until August 1977. He came in 39 internationals for use ( nine of them as captain ) and scoring 16 attempts. This brand was a new national record and was only surpassed in 1983 by Stu Wilson. Kirkpatrick graduated more 74 games for the All Blacks; his time games against clubs and regional teams were far more common than against national teams.

At the national level Kirkpatrick scored 115 trials in 289 games in the highest class. He was also for Canterbury in 33 games for the Ranfurly Shield in use. In 1979 Kirkpatrick his resignation. In 2003, he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.