Former All Blacks loose forward and head coach Alex “Grizz” Wyllie has died, aged 80.
As a player, Wyllie earned 11 test caps for the All Blacks, as part of 40 games for his country, and captained New Zealand on three occasions.
At provincial level, he made over 200 appearancesfor Canterbury, including more than a century of games as captain, before moving into coaching the red and blacks in 1982.
With Canterbury, Wyllie was part of the side that won the Ranfurly Shield in 1969 and 1972, and captained his province to wins over England, Scotland, and Ireland on tours to New Zealand.
After moving into coaching, Wyllie led Canterbury to the Ranfurly Shield in 1982, and successfully defended New Zealand rugby’s most prestigious prize for a record-equalling three years, as well as the NPC title in 1983, and defeated the British and Irish Lions that same year.
Stepping up into the All Blacks, Wyllie was an assistant to Sir Brian Lochore for New Zealand’s 1987 Rugby World Cup victory, and succeeded him as head coach one year later.
Wyllie coached the All Blacks for 64 matches, resulting in 58 wins, five losses, and a draw between 1988 and 1991 - a success rate of 91%. Of those matches, 29 were tests, for 25 wins, three losses, and a draw, a win percentage of 86.2%.
Admittedly a smaller sample size, that win percentage is greater than that of Sir Graham Henry’s 85.4%.
