Kirkpatrick said Bezuidenhout farewelled the team at Johannesburg airport before the team flew home after the fourth test. The referee apologised to All Blacks captain Andy Leslie and said: “I have to live here.”
Kirkpatrick said if he had known that, he would have “wrung his neck” at the airport.
Following last week’s New Zealand Rugby Awards, Kirkpatrick handed the medal which bears his name to Poverty Bay co-captain Keanu Taumata, for his efforts in Heartland rugby.
The Ian Kirkpatrick medal for Heartland player of the year is awarded annually.
Taumata told the Gisborne Herald he had previously been contacted by New Zealand Rugby about attending the awards, but when no follow-up arrangements were made, he assumed another player had taken out the award.
Ian Kirkpatrick hands the medal which bears his name to Poverty Bay co-captain Keanu Taumata, for his efforts in Heartland rugby.
The Poverty Bay flanker and co-skipper said he watched the awards on television and while he was delighted when announced the winner, the biggest honour came in Gisborne yesterday when he received the medal from the man himself – Kirkpatrick.
“I wanted to get it from Kirky,” Taumata said. “Before I got it, I was visualising getting it from the man it’s named after. It’s a huge honour.
“I want to thank you, Kirky, thank you very much,” Taumata said to Kirkpatrick at Rugby Park on Thursday.
“You deserve it, mate,” Kirkpatrick replied.
Poverty Bay improved in 2025, from not winning a game in 2024 to finishing seventh among the 12 Heartland teams and qualifying for the Lochore Cup (fifth to eighth) playoffs.
