Wynne Gray: Salute to Philpott's time with All Blacks

All Black No 895, Shayne Philpott.

No one can take that honour away from the sometime utility. No one can change the records showing he played two tests and 12 other games for the most famous rugby team on the planet.

Philpott, or Rita as he was known, belongs to a group of men who have produced standards and aura which are the envy of the sporting world.

We can all think of players we would not have chosen for the All Blacks, fringe contenders, bit-part internationals, those who lucked in through a variety of circumstance.

That's their fortune, and a massive honour, and I hope Philpott, when he considers his time in rugby and the part he played in the legacy, is able to let that prestige outweigh the negative comments. He did not select himself; the combined wisdom of Alex Wyllie, John Hart and Lane Penn made those decisions.

Philpott made his test debut, from the bench, for nine minutes against Italy in the 1991 World Cup at the Welland Rd ground in Leicester, to replace the injured Terry Wright.

He was unavailable because of injury for the next match, the quarter-final against Canada in Lille, then lost out in the juggle for the semifinal loss to the Wallabies.

Philpott played 41 minutes off the bench in the playoff for third against Scotland to claim his second test cap.

His work for the All Blacks may have totalled less than an hour but he had reached the pinnacle of his sport.

It was sad to hear he was auctioning his cap. By his account, he was hurt by those who dismissed his All Black experiences and wanted to erase those memories. But it was heartening to see he had second thoughts and withdrew the cap.

No one other than an All Black, his descendants, a museum or some sporting club should have such a personal piece of history.

How anyone could bid for such an item is beyond me, unless it was for display in a public museum.

Philpott played strongly for Canterbury in more than 100 games, used everywhere in the backline except halfback and kicked goals.

That shows an exceptional range of skills which national selectors eventually appreciated.

All Black 895, I salute you, just as Grizz, Harty and Co did in 1991.