Murdoch - The Uncapped All Black

by Ron Palenski

The story of Keith Murdoch is the great unsolved mystery of world rugby. The All Black who was sent home from the tour of the British Isles in 1972 and who exiled himself to the vastness of the Australian outback remains a banner headline in rugby memories. It does so despite the passing of the years. The basics of the story are well the strength of the man who scored the All Blacks only try against Wales, then the celebrations that night that went so horribly wrong. Murdoch has appeared publicly a few times since but not said much and nothing at all of the events of that night, or how he felt then and later. But now, the story can be told more fully than before through anecdotes and memories of teammates and colleagues and through the damning words of those who condemned him to his life on the run.

224 pages, Paperback

Published August 9, 2018

About the author

Palenski established the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and administered it until his recent illness. He was a competitive cyclist.

In the 2003 New Year Honours, Palenski was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to sports journalism. In November 2022, he was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. He wrote about 50 books, mostly on sport.

Palenski died in Dunedin of cancer on 22 August 2023, at the age of 78.

abridged from Wikipedia, city of death from a news article on Stuff.