Richard "Tiny" White was a lineout forward without peer. File Photo / NZ Herald Archives
Richard White, one of the great All Black forwards, was 86 when he died on Saturday and left to join Dave Gallaher and Maurice Brownlie and the other All Black legends.
Compared with the giants of 21st century professional rugby White might not have cast a long shadow, but in
his playing days his tall, craggy frame - which stood 1.88m and weighed 100kg - placed him in the XXOS group, thus entitling him to the ironic nickname "Tiny".
White also stood out because of his remarkable stamina, especially in the lineout and the heavy tight-forward play.
He played 55 times for the All Blacks between 1949 and 1956. In his book on the All Blacks tour to the United Kingdom and France in 1953-54, Terry McLean was staggered that White managed to maintain his fitness and eagerness through 30 of the 36 tour matches.
After volunteering to join the Occupational Force to Japan, White returned to his native Gisborne and won an ex-serviceman's ballot for a 485ha sheep farm near Gisborne.
