100 Greatest All Blacks: John Timu

These days John Timu has a building business in the Queenstown area but finds time to renew old acquaintances when he attends All Black tests in Dunedin.

Timu was another in what seemed to be a production line of talent from the Hawkes Bay who shifted south to University and graduated to the All Blacks. That was a six year stretch for Timu, until in his prime and on the edge of rugby grasping professionalism in '95, he accepted an offer to play rugby league.

Half a century of All Black matches including 26 tests spread across the back four and he was gone. Timu would have been a sensation on the fast grounds in South Africa for the 1995 World Cup and would have given the All Blacks a shade more experience and thrust from the back.

Who knows. His inclusion might have come at the expense of Jonah Lomu and then what would we have missed.

The 20-year-old Timu was picked to replace an injured John Kirwan on his first All Black tour to Europe in '89 where he was part of a group of young thrusters with Inga Tuigamala and Craig Innes.

Little fazed Timu and that temperament, his speed and unerring defence allowed him to interchange between wing and fullback for the All Black benefit rather than his improvement.

One of his finest fullback showings came in the '91 World Cup quarterfinal at Lille on an astroturf surface which was so slippery from the rain that noted NZ photographer Ross Setford fell and broke his collarbone as he was ushered away after the pre-match ceremonies.

Both All Black fullbacks were injured and Timu's total performance including two spectacular tries was a key for the All Blacks as they struggled to get past a very physical Canadian side.

Statistics
Date of birth: 8 May 1969
Position: Right wing
Test debut: 6 July 1991 v Argentina at Buenos Aires
Final test: 17 August 1994 v Australia at Sydney
Matches: 50
Tests: 26
Province: Otago
Test tries: 7
Test points: 31