Halfback, half forward
By George Gregan
Macmillan Publishers NZ Limited - $57.99
KEY POINTS:
"Four more years" - who will ever forget George Gregan's taunting words to Byron Kelleher as the Wallabies knocked the All Blacks out of the 2003 Rugby World Cup semifinal.
Just when Kiwi fans had buried their 2007 World Cup disappointments, Australia's most capped rugby player George Gregan writes in a new book that he does not regret saying those famous words.
"I don't regret saying it. I do regret that everyone saw it, both at the ground on the big screen and on TV sets around the rugby world, but it's gamesmanship, it happens."
But New Zealanders will remember him as much for the "four more years" gibe as they will for That Tackle in a Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney in 1994. All Black wing Jeff Wilson was streaking to the line for the match-winning try, when from nowhere Gregan tackled Wilson, forcing him to spill the ball over the line, giving the Wallabies a famous victory.
Gregan went on to become one of Australia's finest rugby players, captaining the side and playing a big role in the 1999 World Cup win.
The book is articulate, well-written and very interesting. Gregan, who has a Zambian mother and a white Australian father, also talks about growing up as a black man in Australia. He says he was never a victim of racism, but often got picked on because of his size.
One of the amusing stories he tells is of speaking to an older man at a function in Brisbane after an All Blacks Test in 1996. In the time-honoured tradition of international rugby players, All Black Andrew Mehrtens thought Gregan needed rescuing from an over-zealous fan. Eventually when the older man was not looking, Mehrtens whispered, "Do you need me to save you?"
Gregan replied: "Mehrts. This is my old man. John Gregan, meet Andrew Mehrtens."
