What couldn't Ron Hemi do in his final year at secondary school?
He was head boy at Hamilton Boys High, captained the 1st XV as hooker and goal kicker, led the 1st XI as an opening batsman and won swimming and athletic titles. In his first summer out of school he opened the batting for Auckland in the Plunket Shield.
It was an extraordinary rise but a year later, Hemi gave cricket away to concentrate on rugby. His impact must have been stunning because after three and a half provincial games, Hemi made his All Black test debut as a 20 year-old.
His play was from another planet. Hemi played like another looseforward while he dominated the scrums and apparently picked off 10 tightheads against England.
His striking was very sharp and he also practiced for hours, dribbling the ball which delivered dividends when the Springboks visited for the torrid '56 series.