By Virginia Winder

Graham Mourie's mum, Juan, has been worshipped as the "Mother of God".

During a tour of Wales in the 1980s, Juan and husband Colin found themselves revered as the parents of the former All Black captain.

Juan laughs at the memory.  "A couple of Welsh boys got down on their knees and said 'can I kiss your hand?' and asked 'what's it like to be the Mother of God?" 

Colin adds. "They said, 'I can tell everyone I have kissed the hand of the Mother of God'."

The Mouries say they weren't embarrassed by the holy treatment.

"We were so proud of him," Juan says.

Graham, now living north of Wellington, is the second eldest of seven children. "He was a good son," Juan says. "No trouble."

But he did tend to take things literally.

Colin says when Graham was about three and brother Stephen about four, they used to wreck all their toys. "So she (Juan) when out and bought an iron train and said 'wreck that you little buggers' and she found them – they went outside and took to it with an axe."

As the young chopper got older he turned his attentions to sport, especially rugby. He showed such great promise that after getting School Certificate at Opunake High School, the Mouries sent Graham to New Plymouth Boys' High School.

He immediately got into the 1st XV, first as lock, then as flanker.

One weekend he brought some players home to stay in an old house at the back of the Opunake farm. "He said 'do you mind if a few boys come over for breakfast?' I said 'that'll be fine', and the whole team turned up," Juan says.

Colin continues: "I think there were about 22 or 25 of them. They went through three dozen eggs, six pound of bacon and six pound of sausages."

There was another time the Mouries were inundated with visitors.

It was 1977, when Graham was named in the All Blacks to play the British Lions.

"He was home on the farm, it must've been winter," says Colin. "He was up on top of a hill stirring 'mother's liquor' for the pigs and it was dark, and I remember saying to him, 'you're in the team' and that was the first he'd heard of it."

That Saturday night, people flocked to the Mourie homestead to celebrate Graham's selection. "We ended up with about 60 people in the lounge," Juan says. "There was no room, they were all sitting around on the floor."

Colin nods. "They were packing down scrums."

These memories are dear to the Mouries, who have kept all of the newspaper articles about their famous son. There is even a story and picture of him tacked to the wall of their living room.

Graham himself has kept barely any memorabilia from his rugby days. The Coastal Rugby Club has got all the jerseys he swapped with other international teams. "All but the South African one," says Colin.

In 1981, when the Springboks toured New Zealand, Graham refused to play. "I had different views," says Colin. "It never ever caused any animosity towards one another. We had different opinions and we talked about it, and it just stayed as a topic of conversation."

But they did agree on the importance of family and sharing.

"He's been a real loving, good son, generous to a fault," Juan says. "He's looked after all his sisters, given them all money towards their houses."

Colin says Graham also helped his younger brother, Adrian, get started on the family's Opunake farm.

But the generosity of the rugby great is epitomised in how well he has looked after his parents.

"He said 'would you like us to subdivide on the farm and build you a house?'" Colin says.

They agreed, but a few days later, Juan told one of her daughters she would rather live at the seaside town of Oakura. Graham got wind of this from his sister and rang his mother.

"He said 'Mum, go and pick yourself a house at Oakura'."

So she did.

Now Colin and Juan live in a new, white home, surrounded by a garden of rainbow blooms.

"He doesn't let us pay rent – we live here for free. We only pay the rates. Lots of people have money, but they don't do this sort of things," says Juan, also paying tribute to Graham's partner Shona, who is just as good hearted.

Naturally, Graham feels uncomfortable that his parents spilled the beans about the house.

"They earned it with the start they gave me in life, and we've been fortunate enough to be able to help my sisters because of the foundations they gave us. I'm a bit embarrassed by having the publicity about it," he says.

This is backed up by Colin, who says the Mourie way is to give. "It stems back to the cradle. We did everything for the kids."

But Juan didn't get everything she wanted from her children. "When I got married, I said to myself, 'I'm going to have a singer, a musician and an All Black'."

Colin grins. "Well, you got one of three."