The Bigger Picture: All Black great “Super Sid” Going, who has died aged 80

For the first generation who saw the All Blacks playing tests live on television, “Super Sid” Going was frequently star of the show. The small but brick-solid halfback’s ability to find a gap then run through it made him a man who could bring moments of joy to a long slog on a soft paddock on a damp day. He’s pictured here, ball in hand, in the second-to-last of the 29 tests he played for the All Blacks between 1967 and 1977. In the 16-12 win against the Lions at Wellington’s Athletic Park, his sole try was a Going classic. Finding his pass to first five-eighth Duncan Robertson blocked, he went the other way, and was blocked again. But his zig-zagging so confused the Lions forwards that he just dodged his way to the try line. He also played for New Zealand Māori for 12 years, and the-then North Auckland provincial side for 16. In those teams, he often played alongside his brothers Ken and Brian. When their quick-pass, triple-scissor combos headed for the try line, the cry went up: “Going ..., Going..., gone!”

Going died aged 80 on May 17 in Maromaku, on the farm in the valley south of Kawakawa where he spent his working life and where he and wife Colleen raised five children.