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Members of the All Blacks' winning Rugby World Cup team of 1987 were reunited yesterday for the funeral of squad member John Drake, who was remembered as a loving father, true all-rounder and one of the country's finest tighthead props.
The 1987 team captain David Kirk, winger John Kirwan and flanker Michael Jones were among those who attended an emotional service in Tauranga for the 49-year-old.
Drake, a television rugby commentator and Herald columnist, died from a heart attack at his Mt Maunganui home last Saturday.
Other rugby legends, including Colin "Pinetree" Meads and Australia's former Wallabies captain Nick Farr-Jones, were also at the funeral.
Wayne "Buck" Shelford, No 8 in the 1987 All Blacks, led an impromptu haka as Drake's casket was carried from the Holy Trinity Church.
About 800 mourners listened to tributes from Drake's family and media and rugby colleagues, including former All Blacks selector and coach John Hart.
"In my mind, he was without doubt one of the finest tighthead props ever to play in New Zealand," Hart said.
"John was an integral part of an All Black team and cornerstone of a scrum that dominated and won the Rugby World Cup."
Drake played 12 games for the All Blacks, including eight tests, and played in all but the first pool match in the 1987 competition.
He began his rugby career with Auckland Grammar's First XV under current All Blacks coach Graham Henry, before taking to university and French club rugby, and then playing for the Auckland side.
He made his debut for Auckland in 1981 aged 22, and played 89 games for the team over the next six years, 65 while Hart was coach.
Hart said his front-row combination with Steve McDowell and Sean Fitzpatrick was "both lethal and legendary".
Hart also read a tribute from Fitzpatrick, the country's most capped All Black, who said Drake was "the best tighthead prop and the most destructive I played with. I learned a few tricks from him".
Hart, godfather to the second of Drake's three daughters Libby, said Drake loved rugby "but he always saw it as a game and never allowed it to dominate his life".
He retired after playing only one more test for the All Blacks after the World Cup, slipping away quietly to build up business interests and spend more time with his wife Cathy, and later their three daughters.
Sports commentator Grant Nisbett, who worked with Drake at Sky TV, said he was "a true all-rounder" who loved red wine and enjoyed conversing about subjects as diverse as food, politics and the money markets.
Drake's wife Cathy and his daughters also gave moving tributes to the 49-year-old, Libby calling him "my legendary Dad".
Former All Blacks captain Andy Dalton presented Bridget, Drake's eldest daughter, with an embroidered cap marking him as All Black number 865, and stamped with the date of his first test against France in Toulouse, on November 8, 1986.
After the service, David Kirk told the Weekend Herald that Drake's death was "an absolute tragedy".
A pallbearer and godfather to Drake's youngest daughter, Rachel, he said Drake was "a great mate and a fantastic rugby player. It was really underestimated how important and influential he was in the teams he played in, both Auckland and the All Blacks".
Kirk said Drake had such a wide circle of friends because he was the sort of person who people wanted to be around. "He was positive, he was optimistic, he had a great deal of integrity and honesty, and he was who he was - you could take him or leave him. Everyone wanted to take him."
Nick Farr-Jones, who played against Drake in the 1980s, said he respected him greatly.
"While we go hard at each other on the field, we're very close unions ... it's a big loss to the world of rugby."
