Ken Gray (rugby union)
As of June 8, 2010 National: June 14, 1969
Kenneth Francis Gray ( * June 24, 1938 in Porirua, New Zealand, † November 18, 1992 in Plimmerton, New Zealand) was a New Zealand rugby union national team on the position of the pillar and after his active rugby career local and regional politicians on the outskirts of Wellington.
Life
Gray attended as a student, The Wellington College, where, however, he never played for the first rugby team of school choice. After school, he was full-time farmer in the northwestern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand.
His rugby career began in the mid-1950s at the club Paremata RFC. In 1958 he was nominated for the second team of the Provincial Association Wellington RFU. A year later he went to the club Petone RFC in the 1960 he made the jump to the first team of the Wellington RFU.
In 1961 he moved from the position of the second row striker in the first forward line, where he played from now on as a pillar. In his new position, he was so convincing that in 1963 his first of six games completed for the Rugby selection of New Zealand's North Island, as well as in the national team of New Zealand ( All Blacks ) was appointed for the upcoming European tour. He was able to establish there beside Wilson Whineray as a regular in the front row, and played in all five recognized international matches against England, France, Ireland ( international debut ), Scotland and Wales. The All Blacks lost none of the matches, not came against Scotland but a 0-0 draw beyond what they denied the first Grand Slam in its history.
Furthermore, he obtained with Wellington before the national tour the Ranfurly Shield against Auckland RFU. However, one could defend the trophy not once and lost once in the first challenge against local rivals Taranaki
1964 Ken Gray played in all three matches against Australia ( Wallabies ). As the All Blacks were able to win two games, they defended the Bledisloe Cup successfully. In the same year he was appointed captain of the Wellington team. With it, he failed in 1964 and 1965 playing for the Ranfurly Shield twice defending champion Taranaki. At the Tour of South Africans ( Springboks ) in the year 1965 in New Zealand and in the Tour of the British and Irish Lions 1966, he again played each in all four games, all of which were won. He also led his province as captain to victory against the Springboks and Lions. In the years 1967-1969 he failed with the Ranfurly Shield Wellington several times at the then defending champion Hawke 's Bay.
Because of its setting against apartheid in South Africa, he refused to tour the All Blacks in 1970 to participate in Chap. This caused so many disputes with the New Zealand Rugby Football Union ( NZRFU ), the New Zealand Rugby union, that he complete with only 31 years, retired from rugby sport even in 1969.
After his rugby career Gray went into local politics. He was a county council in 1971 for the Hutt County and 1973 in Porirua City Council. Later, he was still elected to the Hutt Valley Energy Board and the Wellington Regional Council, where he sat until his unexpected death from a heart attack in 1992. Shortly before his sudden death made him the Labour Party still on as candidates for the parliamentary elections in 1993 in the constituency of Western Hutt.
The Petone Rugby Club, where he had played up to end of his career, created in his memory in 1996, the Ken Gray Academy to promote young rugby talent. In the same year the Ken Gray Education Centre was built in a converted sheep barn on the Battle Hill Farm Forest.