Full name | Michael Orton Knight | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 20 May 1945 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 84 kg (185 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Hawera Technical College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Business development consultant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Michael Orton Knight (born 20 May 1945) is a New Zealand former rugby union international. [1]
Knight, born in Auckland, is related to All Blacks Arthur and Laurie Knight, who were cousins of his father Wally. He was educated at Hawera Technical College and was a national junior 100 yards sprint champion. [2]
A speedy winger, Knight played his representative rugby for Counties and Wellington. He was a member of the All Blacks on their 1968 tour of Australia and Fiji, scoring six tries in eight uncapped tour matches. [3]
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for their international success, the All Blacks have often been regarded as one of the most successful sports teams in history.
The Australia men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.
Richard Hugh McCaw is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award a joint record three times and was the most capped test rugby player of all time from August 2015 to October 2020. McCaw was awarded World Rugby player of the decade (2011–2020) in 2021. McCaw is also a winner of the New Zealand sportsman of the decade award.
Sir John James Patrick Kirwan is a New Zealand mental health advocate, former rugby union and rugby league player, and former rugby union coach.
Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of 10,550. It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was established in 1866, and the town of Hāwera grew up around a blockhouse in the early 1870s.
Craig Gower is an Italian-Australian former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He is a dual-code rugby international, having played rugby league for Australia and rugby union for Italy. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian Kangaroos representative halfback or hooker, he played in the National Rugby League for Sydney club the Penrith Panthers. Gower then switched rugby union, playing for French Top 14 side Bayonne, and through grandparentage represented Italy. He returned to rugby league with the London Broncos in the Super League and then finished his playing career with one more National Rugby League season at the Newcastle Knights.
Piri Awahou Tihou Weepu is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Weepu played most recently for Wairarapa Bush in the Heartland Championship. Generally Weepu played as a half-back but also played at first five-eighth on occasion. He has represented the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, between 2004 and 2013. He first won national honours against Wales in 2004. In 2005 was called back into the All Blacks squad for the first Tri Nations test against South Africa, having missed selection for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour. He represented the Hurricanes and Blues in Super Rugby, and Wellington and Auckland in the Mitre 10 Cup. He also had brief spells with several clubs in Europe. In October 2017, Weepu announced his retirement as a rugby player.
Tuifaʻasisina Sir Bryan George Williams is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer and former coach of the Samoan national rugby team.
John Anthony Gallagher is a former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sir Nicholas Michael Shehadie, was a Lord Mayor of Sydney (1973–1975) and national representative rugby union captain, who made thirty career test appearances for Australia between 1947 and 1958. He was President of the Australia Rugby Union from 1980 to 1987; in that role he pushed for and succeeded in persuading the International Rugby Board to launch the Rugby World Cup. He is an inductee into both the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame and the IRB Hall of Fame.
Norman Jason Hewitt was a New Zealand rugby union player who played as a hooker. He won nine caps for the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Hewitt participated in, and won, season one of Dancing with the Stars in 2005.
Hāwera High School was a secondary school in the New Zealand town of Hāwera, which operated from 1901 until 2022.
Colin "Col" Windon, was a rugby union player and soldier who captained Australia – the Wallabies – in two Test matches in 1951. By age 18 Windon was playing at flanker for his club Randwick in Sydney's Shute Shield. After serving with the Second Australian Imperial Force in the Pacific Theatre during the Second World War, Windon resumed his rugby career in 1946. He was first selected for Australia for their tour of New Zealand that year. Despite the Wallabies losing both their Tests on tour, Windon impressed with his play.
The 1888 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was a tour by a British rugby union team, known at the time as the "English Footballers", throughout New Zealand and Australia. Although a private venture not organised by any official body, this was the first major tour of the Southern Hemisphere undertaken by a European rugby team. It paved the way for future tours by teams which are now known as British and Irish Lions.
Terence John Wright is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A wing and fullback, Wright represented Auckland at a provincial level.
Albert "Doolan" Joseph Downing was a New Zealand international rugby union player, capped 26 times at lock between 1913 and 1914. He was born in Napier, and began his playing career for Napier Marist in 1909, from which he was selected for Hawke's Bay and for the North Island. He moved at the end of 1912 to Auckland and there joined Auckland Marist, where he was the club's first All Black, playing his debut match against a touring Australian team in 1913. He was selected for the highly successful tour of North America in 1913, playing in 14 of the 16 matches and scoring 6 tries.
Henry "Norkey" Dewar was a New Zealand rugby union forward, who played for the All Blacks, and represented Taranaki and Wellington provinces.
Lewis Ormond is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a back for the New Zealand national sevens team.
Edward Te Rangihiwinui Tauroa, known as Hiwi Tauroa, was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach, school principal, and civil servant of Māori descent.