Remembering Keith Murdoch: One of sport's strangest stories
Former All Black prop Keith Murdoch has passed away at the age of 74, New Zealand Rugby confirmed Friday.
Murdoch is remembered for his role in one of sport’s strangest tales, first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2011.
Born in Dunedin, Murdoch made 27 appearances for the All Blacks. But it was his final appearance that had the greatest impact.
The scene was set, it was December 1972 at Cardiff’s Arms Park. Murdoch scored the All Blacks’ only try, an integral part of a 19-16 win over the Welsh. It would be the last time he pulled on the black jersey.
Just hours later, after a few too many drinks at the Angel Hotel, Murdoch punched security guard Peter Grant, leaving the man with a pair of black eyes.
“He tried to punch one of his tour officials and I stepped in to restrain him,” Grant said in 1972.
“They managed to get him away but then he came round from some pillars and punched me.
“They held me back to stop me getting at him. Our men restrained him, with one or two of the New Zealand players helping. It was ridiculous. We were there to protect the New Zealanders. This should never have happened.”
Two days later, All Blacks manager Ernie Todd decided to send Murdoch back to New Zealand.
He never arrived.
Murdoch had simply vanished.
It’s believed that he switched flights in Singapore and moved to the Australian Outback, where he followed seasonal work around the country.
Repeated attempts to contact Murdoch and try to bring him back to New Zealand rugby failed, as did many journalists who tried to seek him out over the years.
Roughly five years after Murdoch’s last appearance in 1972, New Zealand rugby scribe Terry McLean found Murdoch near Perth, where the pair had a brief encounter.
McLean greeted Murdoch, and was told to get back on the bus. “I got back on the bus,” McLean wrote.
Murdoch’s true nature was revealed in 1990 when journalist Margot McRae tracked him down in Queensland and convinced him to do an interview off camera.
“He was a deeply shy person, not very articulate. He felt it was better to be quiet than be embarrassed. He was not going to come home and be confronted by reporters,” she said.
Murdoch’s last appearance came just over ten years later in 2001 when he acted as a witness in an inquest into the death of an Aboriginal man, Christopher Kumanjai Limerick.
The young man’s body was found in an abandoned mine, and his last appearance in the town was reportedly when he tried to break in to Murdoch’s home. Murdoch ignored the media and said little at the inquest before disappearing from the public eye once again.
Although a cause of death remains unknown, it has been reported that he passed away in Australia.
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments