Full name Gary William Whetton
Born
December 15, 1959, Auckland
Current age 64 years 181 days
Major teams New Zealand Cavaliers, World XV, New Zealand, New Zealand XV
Position Lock
Height
6 ft 6 in
Weight 242 lb
Relations
Brother - AJ Whetton
|
Span | Mat | Start | Sub | Pts | Tries | Conv | Pens | Drop | Won | Lost | Draw | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All Tests | 1981-1991 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 6 | 2 | 87.93 |
Bledisloe Cup | 1982-1991 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 73.52 |
IRB Rugby World Cup | 1987-1991 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 91.66 |
Test debut | New Zealand v South Africa at Auckland, Sep 12, 1981 match details |
Last Test | New Zealand v Scotland at Cardiff, Oct 30, 1991 match details |
Test Statsguru | Main menu | Career summary | Match list | Most points | Most tries | Tournament list |
Whetton is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest locks and won 58 caps for the All Blacks between 1981 and 1991 - captaining the team on 15 occasions.
He made his All Blacks bow against South Africa in the infamous "flour bomb" Test at Eden Park in 1981 and later overcame a serious knee injury to become a regular Test selection for the best part of a decade. Whetton was a member of the unofficial New Zealand Cavaliers squad that toured South Africa in 1986 and having served a two-game ban reclaimed his place ahead of the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and shared in the All Blacks' success.
He led New Zealand in a series of midweek fixtures in 1988 and served as vice-captain to Wayne Shelford on the 1989 tour of Wales and Ireland. And he took on the captaincy in the wake of Shelford's shock axing in 1990. Following the All Blacks' failure at the 1991 Rugby World Cup, Whetton was made a scapegoat and was dropped from the international set-up when Laurie Mains took the coaching reins in 1992.
Whetton's twin brother Alan also played for the All Blacks - earning 35 Test caps between 1984 and 1991. When Alan was granted his All Blacks debut against Australia in 1984 the brothers shared a notable feat in becoming the first twins to play together for New Zealand at Test level.
Communication error please reload the page.