Roy Roper in his New Plymouth home. Roper celebrated his 100th birthday on August 11 and is the oldest living All Black. Photo / Jamie Morton
Roy Roper in his New Plymouth home. Roper celebrated his 100th birthday on August 11 and is the oldest living All Black. Photo / Jamie Morton
King Country-born All Black #515 Roy Roper has become the first All Blacks representative to make it to triple digits, turning 100 years old last Friday.
Taranaki Rugby presented Roper with two special jerseys to celebrate the milestone.
“One jersey on behalf of New Zealand Rugby, to acknowledge Roy as the oldest living All Black. The second jersey, in partnership with New Plymouth Old Boys’ Rugby Club to celebrate his time playing for both Taranaki and New Plymouth Old Boys,” the Taranaki Bulls stated in a Facebook post.
“A proud old boy of New Plymouth Boys’ High School, Roy was gifted a First XV cap to mark his years playing for each side and signed off with a haka from the First XV and boarders.
“A wonderful celebration for an iconic Taranaki legend.”
Born in 1923, the former Taranaki rugby captain was born in the small King Country township of Ōwhango, just south of Taumarunui.
Along with lock Josh Lord, Roper is one of the town’s only two All Blacks representatives.
Roper only spent three years in Ōwhango and now resides in New Plymouth, where he has spent over nine decades, as well as a few recent years in Hawke’s Bay.
Roper was educated at New Plymouth Boys’ High School from 1936-1941.
He was in the First XV for two years, captaining the side in 1941.
After leaving school Roper quickly broke into first-class rugby for Services teams, scoring five tries in one match despite being up against another future All Black Johnny Smith.
A member of the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II, Roper played a handful of games in Great Britain and Europe.
“I played a few games [six games over 1944-1945] in Britain for the New Zealand Services team and I played one game in Brussels for the Australian Air Force against the British Liberation Army team, it was one of those games during the war years where they pulled you aside and said ‘can you play this Saturday?’ sort of style, and if you were available, they put you in the team,” he told the New Zealand Herald in 2021.
“They gave me an Australian Air Force uniform and flew me across to Brussels. I also played for the New Zealand Services team in France against Paris University in 1944.
“I got a bit of rugby in, but not much during the war years, as I was at sea.”
Against Paris University was the only time he performed the haka.
Roper played for Taranaki from 1944-1950, around World War II. In 1946, he also played for Taranaki-King Country against Australia.
Roper played 23 first-class games for Taranaki, scoring 17 tries. All of these were played out of the HSOB club (now New Plymouth Old Boys) - apart from one appearance out of the Tukapa club in 1944.
Oldest living All Black Roy Roper's tribute book compiled by his family to celebrate a century. Photo / Neil Reid
Injury caused him to miss most of the 1947 season when his career was just developing, but he returned to the Taranaki side in 1948.
“The Taranaki boys virtually played all their sport and rugby in Taranaki and I was a Taranaki boy. I captained Taranaki in 1949-1950. It was a pretty strong team in those days. Lots of good, cow cocky forwards,” Roper said.
“The Taranaki forwards had a reputation. It was the days when the forwards dribbled the ball along the ground and kicked the hell out of you if you went down in the ball, up to the stages where the forwards got a bit more upright and ran with the ball more.”
Roper played for the All Blacks in 1949 and 1950 before “giving rugby away” because of a bad knee injury.
“Playing generally and getting selected was the highlight. The games were just like any other rugby game. You did your best; you worked with the guys around you,” Roper said.
“The first game was interesting; we lost our fullback after 15 minutes and played with 14 men for the rest of the time. There were no replacements then. Coaches couldn’t get onto the ground at halftime. They sent out a couple of little oranges to suck at halftime, five minutes and that was it. It was pretty basic in those days.
“I was selected on the left wing and I had 15 minutes there in 1949 against the Aussies. Then Johnny Smith put me to fullback when the fullback went off. So, I had 25 minutes at fullback.
“At halftime a message came out with the oranges that I was to go to centre. So, I played the second half at centre. I became versatile at a young age.”
Although New Zealand lost 9-16 to Australia, Roper scored his side’s only try.
“I went to the trials in 1950 and got into the 1950 side against the British Isles. I played in the four tests.”
He scored tries in the two early tests and was mentioned in the 1951 Rugby Almanack of New Zealand as “New Zealand’s outstanding back in the series, revealing all the speed and initiative which he has displayed in the past”.
Roper played just the five tests for the All Blacks before his retirement and was named in the Rugby Almanack New Zealand XV of 1950.
It was said that at the time of his knee injury he was playing at his best and although he continued to play club rugby for a number of seasons, he never played representative rugby again.
A New Plymouth-based chartered accountant, Roper stayed involved in the team even after retirement, becoming treasurer of the Taranaki Rugby Football Union from 1952-1971.
Roper also competed as a sprinter and jumper, gaining a third placing in the hop, step and jump at the New Zealand championships, while his son Guy was a midfielder for Manawatū and New Zealand Universities in 1978.
