![\"bob](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/bob-and-jenny__FillMaxWzEzNzUsOTI2XQ.jpg\")
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Bob with wife Jenny<\/p>\n
One of New Zealand\u2019s most renowned rugby writers throughout his successful 66-year career, Arrowtown\u2019s Bob Howitt has notched the names of many of New Zealand\u2019s most famous All Blacks into his belt, also writing the biographies of many.<\/p>\n
Retired from Auckland to Arrowtown with ex-southerner wife Jenny in 2016, bowls have been Bob\u2019s mainstay lately, but even then, he can\u2019t get away from that wonderful rugby reputation as editor of the country\u2019s most successful rugby publication Rugby News for 25 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still a huge thrill when so many good old codgers at bowls say, \u2018Bob, I can tell you, I couldn\u2019t wait for the Rugby News to come out on a Friday night. I can\u2019t thank you enough\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rugby flows strong in the Howitt veins, Bob\u2019s father glued to Winston McCarthy\u2019s radio commentaries. \u201cHe\u2019d take me to Petone Rec Ground to watch the games,\u201d Bob says. \u201cIt\u2019s in my system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thinking he\u2019d become a horticulturalist, Bob\u2019s uncle Jim Howitt put paid to that, seeing the young Petone Tech First XV captain\u2019s enthusiasm, and offering Bob a crack in Wellington\u2019s Evening Post sports department. \u201cI started as a proofreader then copyholder. It was all typeset then.\u201d Bob\u2019s job \u2013 to match errors in the original and run downstairs to sports editor Fred Boshier. Within six months, now 17, he\u2019d been invited to train as a cadet journalist. \u201cSaturday night\u2019s sports edition was out on the streets by 7pm. We went to the movies at 8.\u201d<\/p>\n
At his first game at Fraser Park, Bob got absolutely drenched then put his three pennies in the telephone box filing his story ad lib to the waiting copytakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce Gabriel David, who became sports editor had written that Colin Meads was responsible for \u2018many clean takes\u2019 in the lineout. But the copytaker wrote \u2018many cream cakes\u2026\u2019 which got printed,\u201d Bob grins.<\/p>\n
By 21 Bob was rugby writer at the Auckland Star \u2013 his rival, NZ\u2019s most renowned rugby writer Sir Terry \u2018T.P.\u2019 McLean, who confessed years later that Bob sure gave him a run for his money.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I\u2019d never match T.P. so I gave my readers a story every day, not all scoops.\u201d<\/p>\n
There almost 10 years, Bob only left because he got cut from a promised South African tour with the All Blacks in 1970. \u201cI thought I was in with a big chance, but the sports editor called me in and said because of the politics they were sending a political writer,\u201d Bob says. \u201cI was stunned and speechless.\u201d<\/p>\n
It prompted the move of his career, becoming founding editor of Rugby News, still being published today.
\u201cIt took off. The second year (1971) the British Lions toured NZ \u2013 a massive event. We ended up auditing a net circulation of 31,000 copies a week,\u201d Bob says. \u201cPeople like Peter Bush contributed photos and sub-editor Phil Gifford did the cartoon strip.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bob\u2019s biggest scoop came when he \u201ctook a punt\u201d after chatting with All Black coach Ivan Vodanovich who\u2019d said he might be going to a Motueka rugby game. \u201cThat meant he was looking at only one person, Nelson Bays running fullback Trevor Morris.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, Bob reckons he went \u201ca bit far\u201d once quoting 1970s All Black coach Fred Allen on information he\u2019d been trusted with. \u201cI saw Fred at Fraser Park in Timaru. He left the selectors and came over, a big hand landing on my shoulder: \u2018I give every journalist one chance and you\u2019ve just blown yours\u2019. I learned my most important lesson,\u201d Bob says. They became great friends, Fred years later saying, \u2018You know what I want to say, you write it!\u2019<\/p>\n
By the 1980s and 90s rugby was live on TV so Bob left, quickly snapped up as editor of NZ Rugby Monthly.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s written 21 rugby books, mostly biographies of Kiwi greats, including the highly successful, NZ Rugby Greats, staying in the homes of NZ\u2019s best post-war All Blacks during the interview phase. Legends like Sid Going, Don Clarke, Earle Kirton, Brian Lochore, Fergie McCormick, Colin Meads, Waka Nathan and Wilson Whineray starred in that book \u2013 a huge hit selling almost 35,000 copies.<\/p>\n
While working for HarperCollins in 2011 Bob took another punt, convincing the doubtful publishers to put out a special publication on an anticipated All Black World Cup win. \u201cSir Graham Henry was coach and always won. We won 8 \u2013 7,\u201d Bob grins, a stressful game to say the least. \u201cI wrote it progressively, 70% printed before the game. We\u2019d published by Thursday \u2013 a big success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retired in Takapuna, Bob managed the interclub team that he ended up filling in and playing for, the team skippered by Danny O\u2019Connor. Takapuna won the NZ title, and again two years later, Bob by now a team member.<\/p>\n
Bob now loves bowling all over Central Otago, a local club selector.<\/p>\n
He still can\u2019t keep out of a good rugby game though, now happily freelancing as a newspaper rugby writer for Central Otago weekly interclub competition games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bob with wife Jenny One of New Zealand\u2019s most renowned rugby writers throughout his successful 66-year career, Arrowtown\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-31078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}