Keith Murdoch

Keith Murdoch (9 September 1943 – 27 February 2018) was a New Zealand rugby union player. Biography Murdoch, a prop, played for Otago from 1964 to 1972, except for one season each for Hawke's Bay (1965) and Auckland (1966). He represented New Zealand from 1970 to 1972, playing in 27 matches for the All Blacks, including three test matches. He toured with the All Blacks to South Africa on the 1970 tour and to Great Britain and Ireland on the 1972 tour, but was troubled by injury throughout both series. Murdoch had a history of unprovoked physical interactions with journalists. In 1971, he responded to a request from a New Zealand journalist for an interview by inviting him into the changing room, then holding the man under a shower until he was drenched. On the 1972 tour of the British Isles, when another New Zealand journalist foiled a practical joke that Murdoch was playing, Murdoch dragged him to the floor by his scalp. Murdoch also allegedly threatened a cartoonist on the same tour. 1972 tour of the British Isles Murdoch's career ended controversially after he was sent home from New Zealand's tour. He scored the All Blacks' only try in their 1972 win against Wales in Cardiff, but later the same night was involved in a fracas in which he punched security guard Peter Grant at the Angel Hotel. He also played in famous Llanelli v New Zealand match in which the Scarlets spectacularly won 9–3. He was later sent home from the tour by All Black management, reputedly after pressure was brought to bear by the home rugby unions. However, in 2019, Moyra Pearce, the daughter of Ernie Todd who was the manager of the 1972 tour, stated that Murdoch was not – as had always been alleged – sent home for assaulting a security guard. Instead, she claimed that Murdoch threatened and chased a female member of staff at the hotel who refused to open the bar for him. Welsh police told Todd that charges would be brought on the following Monday unless Murdoch was out of the country by then. To save Murdoch from prosecution, Todd concocted the story and sent Murdoch home. Bob Burgess, another New Zealand player on the tour, stated that he had never heard anything about a woman being involved, while team captain Ian Kirkpatrick stated that the claim was "news to me".