I took this photo at the All Blacks’ press conference after the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final (how I managed to gain access to the press conference is the subject of another post). It’s hung in my kitchen in the UK since then and I look at it each morning as I wait for the kettle to boil. It struck me one morning that it would be quite neat to see if I could get the photo signed and so the quest began.

In 2015 England hosted th Rugby World Cup although a few games, including the New Zealand v France quarter final, were held at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. Tony Veitch, the radio presenter for New Zealand’s Newstalk ZB radio station, held a Kiwi Party for travelling fans at Cardiff’s Brew Bar the Friday night before this game and with Ted (Sir Graham Henry) in attendance I headed there after work with the photo and ‘the Great Redeemer’ happily autographed it. One down, three to go.

Having decided to head to NZ for the Lions tour I packed the photo on the off chance that I’d pick-up a couple more signatures along the way.

The first opportunity came when I flew into Christchurch for the Crusaders’ game. Having retired from rugby after the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Richie (the honourable Richie McCaw ONZ) became a director and pilot at Christchurch Helicopters, handily located next door to Christchurch airport. A short detour before heading into town and the legend that is Richie McCaw very willingly added his signatureto the photo. Two down two to go.

After busing it down to Dunedin from Christchurch to watch the Highlanders game I flew back up to Auckland and had an afternoon to kill before heading to Rotorua for the Maori game. I headed downtown and popped into the Heritage Hotel which I’d heard was the hotel of choice for the All Blacks when in Auckland. And, with a fixture against Samoa the following day, there was a fair chance Shag (Steve Hanson) would be there. My luck was in as he walked into reception a couple of minutes after me and again was happy (in a Steve Hansen sort of way) to add his signature. Three down one to go.

I always expected Wayne Smith to be a bit of a challenge as I thought he’d retired from coaching the All Blacks and that his whereabouts would be difficult to pin down. But, after a quick phone call to a mate, I discovered I was mistaken and that Smith is due to retire from his assistant coaching role at the end of this year’s Rugby Championship. So, still at the Heritage Hotel, I canvassed  the All Blacks’ South African security man about the chances of getting the photo signed.

Initially he explained that it was the All Blacks’ policy not to accept items for signing (which is understandable). However, When I explained that I’d travelled half-way across the world and after showing him the photo with one signature missing (and dropping in the name of a mate of Wayne Smith’s who’d confirmed he was still coaching) the South African guy relented and became very enthusiastic about helping me out in what he considered to be very special circumstances. He seemed more enthusiastic about the task than I was. “Leave it with me and give me your mobile number and I’ll see what I can do; but I make no promises” he said.  So I handed it over and left the hotel. Don’t you love it when people are empowered to make their own decisions and don’t have slavishly follow policies and procedures!

An hour later a very excited South African rang me to confirm Wayne Smith had indeed signed it and that he’d leave it at reception for me. Job done [smiley face] !!