Victorious 1987 All Blacks to hold reunion

The All Blacks who won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 are holding their first full reunion in October at the business end of the 2011 tournament.

Between the quarter- and semi-finals, all 25 players and management will come together for a black-tie dinner for 750 in Auckland to fundraise for the John Drake Memorial Scholarship.

Mr Drake, a redoubtable prop forward in the victorious 1987 team, died in December 2008 aged 49.

The scholarship honouring his name is awarded annually to an outstanding all-around school leaver enrolling at the University of Auckland.

All proceeds from the dinner for 750 people will go to the scholarship fund. Winners of the scholarship, launched in 2009, embody the qualities, as a student and rugby player, that made Mr Drake so successful on and off the rugby field.

The dinner, at the Ellerslie Racecourse on October 11, will feature a live panel discussion by former All Black greats Sir Brian Lochore, Sean Fitzpatrick, Grant Fox and David Kirk.

All were key to the 1987 side, Sir Brian as coach and Mr Kirk as playing captain (in the absence of the injured Andy Dalton).

They will recount the pressures of being an All Black at a Rugby World Cup. The evening will conclude with a live auction of items including two replica 1987 All Blacks jerseys signed by the team and a framed 2011 All Blacks Rugby World Cup jersey.

The attendance of the entire 1987 team shows the esteem in which John Drake was held, Sir Brian said.

“Some are coming a very long way: Zinzan Brooke, Sean Fitzpatrick and John Gallagher from England; John Kirwan, Steve McDowell and Kieran Crowley as coaches of Japan, Romania and Canada respectively.”

“John Drake left an enviable legacy: a balanced outlook on sport, study, career and life itself,” Sir Brian said. “This is what we are coming together to celebrate and a perpetuate in the form of this very worthwhile scholarship.

“As the only All Blacks to have lifted the Webb Ellis trophy the 1987 team are a unique and special group. Naturally we are hoping that when the dinner comes round the 2011 team are well on the way to emulating our feat.”