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Download AudioFormer All Black and Māori All Black hard man Kingita Nga Here Te Pohe – otherwise known as Bill Bush – says he had to be nagged into producing a book about his life.
The book, co-written with Phil Gifford, was sponsored by his friend and former Christhcurch rugby team-mate Kevin Hickman, who nopw runs the Ryman Healthcare empire.
Bush’s 37 All Black games at prop between 1974 and 1979 included the tough 1976 tour of South Africa, where he says he went out of his way to needle the racist South African authorities.
He says while the All Blacks were single-mindedly focused on victory, he preferred playing for the Māori team. I preferred the0:18 Yeah, great memories.
I preferred the Māori way, because we were always happy., when we played.. and the All Blacks were quite dour in their lead-up to any game. And you specifically had a job, and we do that bloody job or you didn’t get the next tour. Wheras the Maoris, if you could play the guitar, well you were number one – that’s how it was. Yeah, great memories.
Bill Bush
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