From Greytown to glory: The life and legend of All Black Grant Batty

And that will no doubt include reminiscences about the All Blacks 1976 test against the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, where the pint-sized wing sprinted 30m from the other side of the field to join a wild brawl, landing a punch on towering South African lock Boland Coetzee.

A celebration of former All Blacks hero Grant Batty – who died last month – will be held in Brisbane on Friday.

It was a moment Batty recalled with both a sense of regret – and also some pride in his loyalty to his teammates – in his autobiography, Grant Batty, which was published by Rugby Press shortly after his 1977 injury-enforced retirement.

“I just took off,” Batty said in his book.

“Probably it was the only occasion as an All Black that I allowed my discipline to slip.

“Generally, though, my involvement in such incidents were purely a reaction on behalf of the team. I believed in the three musketeers’ motto when I had the All Black[s] jersey on – one for all and all for one – and my involvement represented a concern for my fellow teammates.

“For most of us, rugby is the closest we come to experiencing war and the comradeship which goes with it – each one of us being but a pawn in the great tactical battle, each one of us requiring limitless courage and sacrifice, but each one of us worthless as an individual without total support from our comrades.”

Former All Blacks wing Grant Batty was a larger-than-life figure, both on and off the field. Photo / Getty Images

The 1976 squad had headed to South Africa in a bid to become the first All Blacks team to win a series in the Republic, hoping to end a losing streak dating back to 1928.

It ended up being an unsuccessful mission: they lost the test series 3-1.

The All Blacks weren’t helped by regularly being left staggered by contentious calls made by South Africa referees in the test series.

As in previous tours, the tests were controlled by local refs, leading to claims the Springboks were being favoured by match officials.

Like previous tours to South Africa, players complained of regularly being on the wrong end of contentious refereeing from South African referees in the test series.

That included the Springboks not being called up for foul play.

All Black Peter Whiting on the receiving end of Springboks boots during the 1976 test series. Photo / NZME

And by the time the side got to Johannesburg, frustrations had boiled over in terms of how the tests were being officiated.

Batty explained that part of his reaction in Johannesburg was out of loyalty to the rugby comrades he cared dearly for.

“I used to think that the guys at the RSA clubs were just a bunch of drinkers using the war as an excuse to enjoy themselves,” he wrote.

“But after my six years in international rugby, I appreciate what they went through and what camaraderie means to each of them.”

Batty’s rapid rise to the All Blacks jersey – and international stardom

His try-scoring ability was flagged well before he debuted for the All Blacks against British Columbia as a 21-year-old in 1972.

In his final year in high school at Greytown’s Kuranui College, he scored an incredible 61 tries.

It was his rural upbringing that helped give him the physical strength and fitness that would later see him outshine much bigger opponents in the test arena.

“I had a marvellous youth,” he said in Grant Batty.

“There were just so many good, fresh-air things I took for granted.

“I had a passion for tramping, fishing and camping. My father made me a kayak when I was about 10 and I used to paddle that for 10 to 12 miles [16km-19km] regularly. I did a lot of swimming too, which I’m sure built up my chest and arm muscles.”

He later moved to Wellington as a teen and his club and representative form was such that he would have been selected for the 1970 All Blacks tour to South Africa – if not for being concussed in an All Blacks trial.

Two years later, his All Blacks dream – and that of great mate Joe Karam – was realised when they were both selected for the 1972-73 tour of North America, Britain and France.

Grant Batty was a sensation from the moment he first put on the All Blacks jersey. Photo / Photosport

The pair had both earlier starred for Wellington and the New Zealand Colts.

Before the duo departed, a huge farewell party was hosted by Batty’s father in a marquee on his front lawn in Greytown.

“What a party,” Batty recalled in his book. “Half of Greytown came along.

Grant Batty might have been small in stature – but his presence was mighty. Photo / NZME

“There was a mini beer tanker installed and the multitude drained it of about 140 gallons [529 litres].

“I remember Mum insisting that the party would start at 11am and finish at 6pm – but it was still going early next morning. It was an unforgettable occasion.”

Batty on Keith Murdoch: “He was abused and he reacted as a lot of us would”

Batty’s All Blacks debut came on a tour that has gone down in infamy in the All Blacks’ 123-year history.

For many fans – and surviving members of the team – the overriding memory of the near four-month tour was not any specific game, but the decision to boot imposing prop Keith Murdoch out of the team in disgrace.

In just the space of 12 hours in Cardiff, Murdoch went from a hero to a villain in the eyes of All Blacks management; first scoring a crucial try in the 19-16 win over Wales, then punching a security guard at the Angel Hotel.

Keith Murdoch’s banishment from the 1972-73 All Blacks has gone down in infamy. Photo / NZME

The incident started in the hotel’s kitchen, where Murdoch was trying to source a late-night meal.

Murdoch told management he was provoked, claims that in the years since have been backed by some of his teammates.

Sir Bryan Williams later said Murdoch was being niggled by Welshmen all night.

He also claimed before Murdoch lashed out, the security guard had “deliberately bumped into him” and said: “So you’re the one who thinks he’s so bloody tough.”

The day after the incident, All Blacks manager Ernie Todd told Murdoch that he would not be sent home.

Keith Murdoch was initially told his place in the All Blacks touring team was safe. But 24 hours later, he was booted out of the team in disgrace. Photo / NZME

But the following day – bowing to pressure from angry rugby officials in the UK – Todd changed his stance and sent the prop packing.

Looking back in Grant Batty, Batty said Murdoch was “abused and he retaliated as a lot of us would”.

When the team were told Murdoch was being banished, he recalled “we just sat there dumbfounded”.

“Keith’s dismissal was a severe penalty for one punch. It wasn’t as if he’d hoed in and scarred the guy for life,” Batty said. “As I say, the police didn’t consider it serious enough to press charges.”

Todd was ailing as he battled terminal cancer on the tour and it was a largely inexperienced All Blacks team.

Batty said he believed if the side had more experienced players in it, “the players would have said if he goes, we go”.

Batty said Murdoch’s off-field behaviour was “no worse than hundreds of other players who’ve toured. He was a mighty team man”.

Murdoch was booked on a flight to Auckland but switched flights in Singapore and flew to Perth to start a life in exile across the Tasman.

Successive All Black teams have had a pint of beer in Keith Murdoch’s honour at Cardiff’s Angel Hotel.

He died in February 2018, aged 74, in the Western Australian town of Carnarvon.

The Herald revealed in 2022 that Murdoch had just discovered he had a secret love child – conceived before he went on the ill-fated All Blacks tour – but died a week before he was due to meet him.

Crippling injury ended Batty’s career – and $10 NZRFU ‘please explain’ that followed

Batty’s heroics in the black jersey earned him many nicknames, mainly “Batts”, but also the “Pocket Rocket”.

But sadly, his career came to a shuddering halt in 1977 because of a crippling knee injury, at the age of just 25.

He first suffered serious damage to the joint playing in a 1976 pre-season charity game in the central Hawke’s Bay settlement of Takapau.

Grant Batty battled through the 1976 tour of South Africa with his damaged knee, but surgery awaited in early 1977. Photo / NZME

Despite the severity of the injury, he managed to battle back to make the All Blacks’ 1976 tour of South Africa; a journey he talked about in a chapter of Grant Batty titled “On trek with a wonky knee”.

The knee wasn’t right and he damaged it again in the first test.

Pain-killing injections and a special brace kept him on tour, but were still not enough as he was forced from the field in the final two tests against the Springboks.

“I was never able to produce my best form,” he said in his book. “The knee restricted my training, and I wasn’t able to put in the hard work necessary to hit top form.”

Batty ultimately had surgery on the knee in February 1977.

Grant Batty runs away to score an intercept try against the Lions in 1977. Photo / Screen grab

Through sheer grit and determination, he secured selection for the All Blacks’ opening test of that year’s series against the touring British Lions, having shown enough to the selectors via a handful of club rugby games.

But by the time he joined his teammates, the knee had “started giving me troubles”.

Batty proved to be a match-winner in the test at Wellington’s Athletic Park, securing an intercept and, despite being hampered by his knee, running 45m to score the decisive try.

Grant Batty dots down for his match-winning and final try for the All Blacks at Athletic Park. Photo / NZME

He was named in the team for the second test but abruptly announced his retirement days before kickoff, saying trying to play on “was a waste of time. The knee was sore. Damn sore”.

Being forced to hang up his boots so young through injury wasn’t the only frustration after his retirement.

Aged just 25 – and having scored 45 tries in his 56 matches for the All Blacks – his career was over.

Grant Batty, the ‘pocket rocket’ All Black,,has died aged 74. This is how he will be remembered, blazing into rugby folklore like a ball of fire with the try that put the skids under the 1977 Lions. Sadly it was to be his last due to injury. https://t.co/v38Oz6u9DD via @YouTube

— Peter Jackson (@JackoRugby) January 19, 2026

As he soaked up some of the plaudits delivered his way after returning home, the gutsy wing was left gobsmacked by a letter he received from then New Zealand Rugby Football Union councillor and All Blacks manager Ron Don.

In an age when rugby was strictly amateur – and All Blacks had to make financial sacrifices to wear the famed black jersey – Don was writing seeking information about $10 worth of expenses that had been clocked up under Batty’s name at the team hotel during the week of the second test against the British Lions.

Don said those expenses were “toll calls allegedly made by you, drinks allegedly ordered by you” and a meal listed on the bill for “Batty’s guest”.

Grant Batty swerves past British Lions first five Phil Bennett in his final test for the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

Don wrote that he was “surprised and disappointed” by the costs Batty was alleged to have accrued.

He wrote that Batty was himself being put up as a guest in the All Blacks environment after he had retired two days out from the test.

Author of Grant Batty, veteran journalist Bob Howitt, wrote how the please explain letter “represented a great insult”.

Batty said: “It made me wonder about all I’d gone through, the training, the pain in South Africa, the operation, the effort to get fit for Wellington. This letter dismissed me as if I was an irresponsible schoolboy.”

A trio of mighty All Blacks and a friend (from left): Ian Kirkpatrick, unknown, Sir Bryan Williams and Grant Batty.

Batty never did offer a refund, saying the expenses were “legitimate”.

It included a $4 shared meal for the All Blacks’ local liaison officer and several small bottles shared between three squad members.

The toll call “was a total mystery to me”, Batty said.

A ‘freak’: Ultimate tribute Batty’s former coach paid him

In the foreword to Batty’s best-selling late 1970s book, his former All Blacks coach J.J. Stewart summed up the qualities that made the small-in-stature player – but large in personality – such a fan favourite.

Stewart wrote how the match-winner was the “personification of all that is really wonderful about rugby”.

He said Batty was “innately gifted” and very strong for his weight and height, going on to describe him as a “freak”.

Such public flattery within the leaders of New Zealand rugby at that time was a rare thing.

A signed copy of Grant Batty’s entertaining autobiography, Grant Batty, that was published by Rugby Press, several months after his injury-enforced retirement in 1977. Photo / Neil Reid

“A wonderful team man in every possible respect, his spirit was unflagging and infectious,” Stewart wrote in Grant Batty.

“No player, international opponents included, has anything derogatory to say about Batts. This is perhaps the highest accolade for any player – to be held in such regard by fellows and opponents.”

Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 34 years of newsroom experience.

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