Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby's most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful
Iconic Rugby Pictures: PART 16 John Kirwan in full flow against Fiji at RWC1987 May 27 1987
What's happening here?
It's May 27, 1987 and New Zealand wing John Kirwan is steaming in for an All Blacks try in their World Cup game against Fiji in Christchurch. Athletic, handsome, muscular, very fast, predatory, unstoppable, Kirwan has the world at his feet. He was the nearest thing rugby had to a global superstar before Jonah. He made life and rugby look very simple, a stroll in the park… but beneath the surface he was struggling badly, tormented with self-doubt and depression in an era when alpha males never admitted to such illnesses. An Adonis with an achilles heel.
What's the story behind the picture?
Kirwan made his All Blacks debut in 1984 and his impact was instant. He became the face of New Zealand rugby and that quickly took its toll. Back in the 70s Barry John discovered, at the age of 27, that he couldn't handle the microscopic critical attention of the public and media anymore and quit. Kirwan stopped short of that but recognised he needed to change his life.
So he did what many young Kiwis have done in the past. He packed his rucksack and went travelling. First he wandered around some of the world's top surfing hotspots catching some waves and then he decided to base himself in Italy where itinerant Test match rugby players were well looked after but could walk around unrecognised. The pace of life and restful vibe suited the young Kirwan much better.
Kirwan fell in love with the region, not to mention a local Treviso girl Florella. They married, had three children – all of them accomplished sportsmen or women – and Italy became home even if Kirwan's career continued to see him travel the globe, first as a player, then as a much sought after coach.
The 1987 World Cup rolled around. Kirwan would have no truck with the discredited New Zealand Cavaliers tour to South Africa the previous summer so along with the likes of Dave Kirk, John Gallagher and others, he represented an untainted rugby generation who had not soiled the All Blacks tradition by rushing off to South Africa to support the flagging apartheid regime.
In the spring of 1987 he starred on the New Zealand Barbarians tour of Britain and, back in New Zealand, trained like never before with part of his regime being high speed downhill runs through the trees of his local park to improve his foot speed and ability to swerve and step while running flat out.
“Few would argue with Kirwan being the player of the tournament”
What happened next?
Kirwan took the World Cup by storm, starting with one of the greatest tries ever as he weaved past eight Italian defenders on an 85 yard sprint to score in the opening game and light up the fledgling tournament. He scored a second against Italy, then there was this try against Fiji followed by two in the 49-6 trouncing of Wales in the semis. In the final against France he scored a brilliantly- taken try and few would argue against him being the unofficial player of the tournament.
Why is the picture iconic?
Viewed alone this is a straightforward, if superior, rugby ‘superhero' picture, one of the world's greatest ever wings hitting the turbos and disappearing into the distance, the opposition nowhere. You can sense the enormous latent power of a great athlete with another gear if needed. Kirwan appears to be a supremely confident elite performer… and yet appearances can be very deceptive and that is certainly the case here. The knowledge we have now of what Kirwan was experiencing and the struggles that still awaited make this all the more poignant.
There is another thing that has always struck me about this picture, indeed many images of Kirwan in full flight, and that is the stress and anguish on his face. It's always there. Rarely any joy or exultation. There is none of the extrovert joie de vie of a David Campese, Chris Ashton or Bryan Habana. None of the Gerald Davies nonchalance and calm. For Kirwan the massive weight of expectation often made rugby a burden, not a pleasure. The latter only came afterward celebrating with colleagues. At the sharp end Kirwan found rugby extremely stressful.
All this came pouring out in a series of books and interesting almost philosophical interviews in subsequent years. All Blacks Don't Cry -my life and battles was a brutally honest autobiography laying bare the mental turmoil he suffered. It can be a painful read. Then came Stand By Me a lifestyle on the advice he would give his son as he makes his way through life. There is a little bit of Zen, quite a bit of what I would call surfing culture cool and lashings also of good oldfashioned Kiwi common sense.
Footnote: Kirwan was always a bit different. Challenging. When he was Italy coach I once asked him why Italy were so slow to learn the lessons of defeat. He considered the question for an eternity and then ‘answered': “The other day I smacked my little boy on the legs. It hurt and he cried. But then he saw that I had killed the mosquito on his leg and he smiled and said he would look out for mosquitos in the future. Learning can be a painful process.”
