All Blacks join mourners from afar

The All Blacks will wear white armbands on Sunday morning. Photo / Getty Images

His head bowed, John Sturgeon joined the All Blacks in offering a silent prayer for the stricken miners at Pike River hours before his wife confirmed all hope was lost.

After spending 38 years in the mining industry Sturgeon knew to anticipate the worst since that first communication from his wife, Mary, in Greymouth last Friday - but this unwelcome 2am wake-up call still took time to sink in.

Now the New Zealand Rugby Union's president, Sturgeon's working life had revolved around collieries on the Paparoa coal seam so he had an intimate connection with the tragedy unfolding a world away from the All Blacks Grand Slam tour.

"I've had a bit of a battle actually," he said, stoic though clearly distressed.

"I knew a lot of them, some of them have been around my place for a long time. I worked with some of their fathers.

"Since the call from Mary I've sort of accepted it and I just hope all those people will get on with what they've got to get on with."

When Mary spoke of a second gas explosion Sturgeon, an old tappy and under viewer, realised the healing process could finally begin.

"She said they'd had the second explosion, it's quite common, that's what happens in these situations. It's what's been hovering over everyone's heads," he explained.

That shockwave, he hoped, would bring a sense of closure for distraught relatives.

"They can get on and grieve and do the things they've been wanting to do - but haven't been able to do it because there's always been a glimmer of hope.

"They can try and put the thing to bed," he said, before conceding: "It'll never really be put to bed for some people."

Sturgeon, for example, still has vivid memories of the Strongman disaster when 19 men - all friends or acquaintances - were killed by a gas explosion in 1967.

"It's just like a death in the family," he said.

"Do you get over that? Those people are always in the back of your mind."

He took comfort from knowing coal mining communities were resilient, the camaraderie was "unbelievable", and life would inevitably go on below ground.

"I've got one son who's a banker, the other one followed my footsteps," he said.

Sturgeon's youngest boy is on the staff at nearby Spring Creek, and the old man no qualms about a family tradition continuing.

"My Dad didn't want me to do it, he was a miner, but there's a bit of calling there I think," he said.

Sturgeon was gratified to have received plenty support from the All Blacks and team management.

Other than last night's prayer gesture, messages of support and condolence have also been transmitted home as the players appreciate the magnitude of the tragedy.

All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen said Pike River had been a regular discussion point among the squad since the news broke while they were in Dublin and hoped beating Wales on Sunday (NZT) would offer some relief back home.

"It's not going to change anything for the families but that's all we can do and that's what we will be attempting to do," he said.

"If we can get this Grand Slam," added Sturgeon, "it'll be good for the players, the management and New Zealand really. It'll be just as good for Coasters as well." The team will be sporting white armbands before they run on to Millennium Stadium - a break with the traditional black - as a visible show of solidarity.

"That's really more for the families back home," said Hansen.

"We're saying, 'Hey, we feel for you, we love you and our prayers are with you'."

The Wales Rugby Union has agreed to a request from the NZRU to observe a minute's silence before kickoff.

- NZPA