All Black Sean Fitzpatrick pays tribute to a true Original – rugby captain and soldier Dave. Photo / Getty Images
Eden Park has been the scene of some very special moments for Sean Fitzpatrick.
The rugby legend was part of the All Blacks team that won the very first Rugby World Cup at the Auckland stadium in 1987 and he later captained our national side to some notable victories there. It was also where he played for many years for the Auckland Blues.
But when he stood on the hallowed turf in February, the emotion that overwhelmed him was nothing to do with winning or losing a game.
Sean choked up over a solemn ceremony held to symbolically “bring home” the very first All Black captain, Dave Gallaher, who tragically died in World War I.
Sean had gone to Dave’s grave in Belgium and to a park named after him in his Irish hometown of Ramelton to deposit soil dug up from Eden Park. He then collected earth from those locations to bury back under the pitch at the iconic Auckland venue.
“It was very emotional and I loved that I was able to be part of it,” says Sean, 62. “It was something I’ll always remember.”
The poignant process of transferring soil to and from places of significance to the man considered the father of the All Blacks is the focus of an Anzac Day documentary, From Field to Front, produced by TV presenter-turned-documentary-maker Jude Dobson. Sean, who has lived in London for the past 20 years, was delighted to be able to pay tribute to Dave.
“I’ve known Jude for a long time, right back to her early days on Sale of the Century and she told me about what she’d previously done with her other documentaries,” says Sean, referring to three earlier shows Jude, 59, made about New Zealanders involved in war.
“I thought this was a story that needed to be told in terms of the history of New Zealand rugby. Dave Gallaher was a big part of that history and all of us, from young kids coming through to current All Blacks, need to remember where it all started.”
Jude says asking Sean to be involved was a no-brainer. “He has such mana, he knows Dave’s story and he is an elder statesman of rugby now.”
Sean knew a fair amount about Irish-born Dave, who captained the first New Zealand rugby team to be called the All Blacks on their epic tour of Britain, Ireland, France and the United States in 1905-06. He’d previously been to Dave’s final resting place.
Sean says, “My wife Bronwyn and I had done a trip around Passchendaele and visited Dave’s grave. So I did know a bit about him, but to have this experience of finding out more… it’s just meant so much to me.”
When he’s not involved in projects like this documentary, much of Sean’s time is taken up as chairman of the international organisation Laureus. It celebrates sporting excellence by presenting awards to the world’s top sportspeople, and has a charity that uses the power of sport to transform the lives of children and young people.
In 2000, Sean and fellow Kiwi Sir Peter Blake were invited to join the Laureus World Sport Academy, whose members include some of the greatest sportspeople in history, such as Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Nadia Comaneci, Martina Navratilova, Jack Nicklaus, Mark Spitz and Sachin Tendulkar.
“We went over to Monaco when Laureus started,” recalls Sean. “There we were, these two Kiwis from the other side of the world and all these people I’d idolised for years. I was like a kid in a candy shop.
“Nelson Mandela was our founding patron and he said, ‘You guys have some of the biggest voices in terms of making a difference, so use sport as a mechanism for change.’
“We now have 300 projects in 45 countries and we’ve helped to change the lives of seven million children globally.”
Past projects include boxing programmes in NZ, which have been “phenomenal,” says Sean, who has been Laureus’ chairman for 10 years.
He tries to watch as many sporting Kiwis in action as he can – he woke up early to watch a Blues match before chatting with the Weekly – and is delighted when we do well. If he had his way, there’d be a lot more investment in sport globally.
“When you look at what’s going on in the world at the moment, the one thing that makes people smile, that brings them together, is sport,” says Sean. “There’s nothing quite like it for helping to change lives.”