Sid Going, who died at the age of 80, won 29 international caps as a rugby Union scrum-half for the All Blacks in the middle of 1967 and 1977 and played a total of 86 matches for New Zealand, of which he was captain five times. Tacitly, he nevertheless spoke the language of rugby fluently and was one of the All Blacks’ greatest scrum-running backs.
Prematurely bald and with a distinctive drooping mustache, he showed himself in the 1970s in a fierce rivalry with the best scrum-half in the world, Gareth Edwards. Like the Welshman, he was bodily fast and strong – at a time when every player wearing the number 9 jersey was at the mercy of looting strikers from the back lines when he lacked speed and strength.
The two met in the match, which is still considered the best national player of all time, when the Barbarians defeated Ian Kirkpatrick’s All Blacks in Cardiff in January 1973. For once, Going was overshadowed by his rival, and the interviewers had great difficulty telling him his opinion about the game.
Going was born in Kawakawa, a small town north of New Zealand’s North Island. Paki) and Cyril were farmers, and Sid was of Māori descent on his mother’s side. He and his four brothers attended Northland College in Kaikohi, then Sid attended the Mormon-run Church College in New Zealand before moving to Alberta in Canada at the age of 19 to begin missionary work.
However, the attraction of the house was great and Going returned to New Zealand, where he began to take rugby seriously. His brothers Brian and Ken played for the Northland team, and when he returned home, Sid, who had already attracted the attention of New Zealand selectors, was selected to play for North Auckland and the New Zealand Maori.
Before entering the pecking order of the New Zealand scrimmage-running backs, there was the outstanding Chris Laidlaw, but Going established himself in the All Blacks team for his debut against Australia in 1967. The All Blacks won 29-9 and when they scored two solo tries in a win over France in Auckland the following year, the number 9 jersey was in his hands.
They were safe hands, and Going turned out to be a smart player with a great game of tactical kicks. Before the Golden Age of Welsh rugby, New Zealand and South Africa were actioning to become the first rugby union team in the world. The All Blacks’ tour of South Africa in 1970 was debatable. The Apartheid regime only agreed to accept Going and his fellow Māori, the brilliant winger Bryan Williams, by granting them the status of “honorary white”. It was humiliating for the players and a shame for the New Zealand rugby authorities that they had agreed to the deal.
Going continued to be the star turning point in the north of Auckland in the 70s. He was one of the main reasons why an awesome 40,000 fans often went to Okara Park in Whangarei to see the team, including for a match against the British Lions in 1971, when John Dawes’ touring team made the brilliant scissor strikes of Brian, Ken and Sid, which scored a narrow victory for the Lions.
Going’s career with the All Blacks ended with the Lions tour in 1977. In the windy city of Wellington, he escaped for a typical try that inspired a 16-12 win over Phil Bennett’s team in the first test. But he was replaced by Lyn Davis after the second Test in Christchurch, which the Lions won, and the All Blacks won the series without the man who had taken the number 9 jersey for a decade.
Going was appointed an OBE at the end of his international career, and when he retired the following year he continued farming at home in Northland with his wife Colleen, whom he had married in 1969.
He also became a coach and trainer for Northland. Famous for never swearing even in the most difficult circumstances, he preferred to express his dissatisfaction with his players with the words “blink” and “turn around”, and his strict personality often distinguished him in the rugby union world.
His three passions in life were his family, rugby and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which he became a bishop for seven years.