Birth name | Neil Alexander Purvis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 31 January 1953 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Cromwell, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 26 October 2008 55) | (aged||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Tarras, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | John McGlashan College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Neil Alexander Purvis (31 January 1953 – 26 October 2008) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A second five-eighth and wing, Purvis represented Wairarapa Bush and Otago at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in 1976. He played 12 matches for the All Blacks including one international. [1]
Purvis was also a noted breeder and owner of thoroughbred racehorses, his horse Cluden Creek winning the 2004 Wellington Cup. He farmed Cluden Station near Tarras in Central Otago, and died there in 2008 while attempting to rescue cattle from a bog. [2]
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