By Rhonda Bartle

Neil Wolfe's rugby career did not begin at NPBHS but a little further back at Central primary school. In 1954, he made it into the Taranaki primary reps and that same year won the Bayley Scholarship, which is still awarded today to the most promising primary school player. 

Then as a 14 year-old fourth former, Wolfe came under the expert eye of the late J.J. Stewart who fingered him to play in the First Fifteen. 

'J.J. was a great thinker of the game, and I suppose you could call him my mentor. He came to me half way through the season and said he wanted me to play Five Eighth.  I was pretty overwhelmed by that thought but he said all he wanted me to do was pass the ball.  He said, 'You don't have to tackle anybody, we'll get someone else to do that.  You don't have to kick the ball either, just pass it.'  And so that's basically what I did in my four years in the First 15, I passed the ball quickly, and did other things I probably had more of a natural ability to do.'

It was 1956, and the NPBHS First Fifteen remained on top for the next five years, the longest successful run the school team had known. 

'It was notable that a number of players who played in that era went on to play first class rugby for their province,' Wolfe says. 

Jeff Lane Penn became president of New Zealand Rugby Union. Roy Johns represented Taranaki while he was at school.  'Both guys were wingers.  There were just such a lot of good rugby players that came through.'

Wolfe then went to Wellington and played for the provincial team. 

'When I came back to Taranaki in 1963, J.J. was coach of the Taranaki team, and I always remember him saying to me, 'Wolfie, now I'll have to teach you all the things I taught you at school because you've forgotten them.'

He vividly recalls the pressure on his team to hang on to the Ranfurly Shield and not being able to hear himself talk due to the roar of the crowd.  The population of New Plymouth was about 35,000 and there were sometimes 37,000 at Rugby Park.

Wolfie with his favourite photo. From left, Fred Baker, Brian Lachore, Prince Phillip, Colin Meads, Kel Tremain and Neil Wolfe.

'Some of the worst fears of any player is defending the Ranfurly Shield on your own ground, when you've got 30,000 fanatical Taranaki supporters cheering you on and you may be the one player that drops the ball or misses a tackle or causes the shield to be lost.'

He says fortunately, that never occurred.  'In fact, the exact opposite happened a couple of times and I was able to save the shield.'

Sometimes worry about the game would slip in before the starting whistle blew.  'Excitement, fear, the thought of the daunting task ahead of you...

'I remember when we were playing Wellington in 64, I think it was, and there was huge interest in the game.  Even before the game started, just sitting around, the old pulse rate got up to over 120, the old adrenaline was flowing and just running onto the field was mind boggling.  But once you got on there and the game started, time stood still and then the next thing the whistle goes, game's over.  Unbelievable.'

In his first year out of school, Wolfe played for Victoria University and represented both NZ Universities and Wellington.  He debuted for the All Blacks in 1961 against France at Auckland and went on to play a total of 14 games and 6 test matches.

According to New Zealand Rugby Union data, at 163cms he was one of the shortest players to represent New Zealand, but he made this up with his speed and astute understanding of the game. 

One of Wolfe's worst career moments came in 1963 when he suffered a debilitating injury while playing for Taranaki against Waikato.  It cost him his place on the All Black team to tour the British Isles in 1963/64.

'It was one of those things that happen. It was late August and the All Blacks were due to leave in October or November.  I broke my arm quite badly above the elbow - I thought it had fallen off.  It was the biggest disappointment of my career.'

He was the surprise choice for the All Black team to play Australia.  'I think it was almost a consolation prize that I was picked.'  He grins. 'Nah. Not really.'

Wolfe continues to stay in touch with many of the All Blacks he played with.  Every year a dinner is held at a test venue to coincide with a match.  'It's great to catch up with the guys that you played with 40 years ago. We sit around, tell stories.  We know better, these guys get paid too much…'

He says many of the old players shake their head in amazement at professional rugby and the fact that players actually get paid to play - and very often get paid not to play because they can't make the team and they're on contract.

'I played rugby for ten years and the only compensation we ever got was the old handout of gear.'  And glory?  'Okay, and glory,' he cheerfully agrees.  'Okay, gear and glory and often a lot of derogatory comment.  You suffered the good with the bad and if you played badly you were criticised.'

But basically, Neil Wolfe, ex-NPBHS First Fifteen, ex-All Black is philosophical. 'Look, all through your life things change and professionalism in rugby is almost evolutionary.  It had to happen.  And what's happened in the last 10 years is absolutely amazing. The fact that rugby has now gone global, I suppose, was beyond the comprehension of anyone, say 15 years ago.'

Like Headmaster Lyal French-Wright, Wolfe believes NPBHS will keep its tradition of being one of the top rugby colleges in New Zealand though he expects it might face tough competition from other colleges, particularly those in Auckland.

'There are a lot of Polynesian players who mature far faster than the ordinary kiwi lad and I doubt even I would have survived as a young player in today's rugby environment. The NPBHS will always be a strong rugby college but they may have trouble competing with those colleges that go out of their way to recruit good rugby players to bolster their First 15.'