Des White, legendary rugby league fullback and goal-kicker, has passed away aged 96.
White was a key part of the 1952/1953 Kiwis side that beat Australia on four successive occasions. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and named at fullback in New Zealand Rugby League’s team of the century in 2007.
White kicked a record 11 goals against Australia in 1952 in a 49-25 victory against a Kangaroos side that featured Clive Churchill.
“I didn’t celebrate very much, I went to bed early because I had one eye partly-closed and a cracked nose,” he told the Herald in 2016.
His career has halted after rupturing his spleen playing for Auckland in a tour game against Great Britain in 1954. “I was never put on a stretcher, I tried to walk off. I got to the dressing room and passed out. Then I ended up going to hospital and I was in there for five weeks,” he added in 2016.
