100 Greatest All Blacks: Dave Loveridge

Trapper's finest test came in foul conditions against the Lions at Athletic Park in 1983.

Like many of his generation Dave Loveridge was reticent about discussing his personal contributions but in his under-stated way he gave a little clue in his biography.

"I think as we slumped down in the dressing room we all felt that satisfaction, the feeling of contentment that comes from having done a job to the best of our ability," he said.

Loveridge made minimal rugby inroads while he was a bank officer before he returned to the family pig farming industry in Taranaki. Five years later he was on the '78 tour to Britain and his exceptional career had begun.

His game was a superb amalgam of the men who had worn the jersey before him. His pass was not as whippy as Laidlaw but it was very effective while his running game had much of the cutting thrust of Going.

It was his match sense which set him apart with his selfless comprehension of how to wear sides down in all sorts of conditions. Loveridge could play any style of game and that adaptation set him in the highest ranks of halfbacks.

He had those natural gifts which great players use to climb to their levels. And he worked his Taranaki tail off to maintain those standards with passes gliding out on either flank, box and chip kicks hitting their mark or his running game adding to a snapping pack.

Serious knee injuries should have derailed his career twice but Loveridge beat both mishaps to reclaim the black jersey and these days is still a regular leader on end of year All Black supporters tours.

Statistics
Date of birth: 22 April 1952
Position: Halfback
Test debut: 11 November 1978 v Wales at Cardiff
Final test: 2 November 1985 v Argentina at Buenos Aires
Matches: 54
Tests: 24
Province: Taranaki
Test tries: 9
Test points: 36