Alexander John "Grizz" Wyllie (30 August 1944 – 22 March 2025) was a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and coach.

Playing career

Wyllie began his rugby career playing for Glenmark Rugby Club, in North Canterbury. During his first-class career he played for

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

beginning in 1964 and played 210 matches for the province until 1979, serving as captain on over one hundred occasions. During this time, he was an integral part of such exploits for the province as the lifting of the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge ...

in 1969 from Hawke's Bay and then in 1972 from Auckland as well as captaining the province to wins over international touring sides such as

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1973,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 1975 and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1976. Wyllie became an

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

in 1970 when he was selected to tour South Africa where he played in the second and third Tests. In the next three years, he played forty matches for New Zealand, including eleven Tests, and was captain on three occasions. Although he was discarded as an All Black after 1973, Wyllie remained a prominent player for Canterbury until 1979.

Coaching

In 1982, Wyllie became coach of Canterbury and immediately enjoyed success when Canterbury won the

from

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and went on to hold the trophy for a record-equalling three years. Under his coaching, Canterbury won the National Provincial Championship (NPC) in 1983, and also recorded victories against international teams such as the British Lions in 1983 and the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

in 1986. In the 1986 New Year Honours, Wyllie was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to rugby football. Wyllie became a national selector in 1986 and he and his Auckland rival John Hart had significant roles as assistant coaches to

Brian Lochore Sir Brian James Lochore (3 September 1940 – 3 August 2019) was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach who represented and captained the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. He played at Rugby union positions#Number Eight, number 8 a ...

when the All Blacks won the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 mat ...

. In 1988 Wyllie succeeded Lochore as coach, much to the annoyance of many, especially in Auckland, who favoured Hart. Despite initial success as All Black coach, a decline starting in the 1991 season led to the NZRFU appointing Hart as joint coach for the 1991 World Cup. After the unsuccessful campaign, Wyllie resigned while Hart was overlooked when Laurie Mains was selected as All Black coach. In 1991, he also appeared as an All Black in the comedy film ''

Old Scores ''Old Scores'' is a 1991 television film jointly produced by New Zealand and Wales, about the two countries' mutual national sport of rugby union. It is notable for the appearance of many notable Wales national rugby union team, Welsh and All B ...

''. Wyllie went on to take various coaching roles in England, Ireland, South Africa and Argentina and from 1996 to 1999 was in charge of the Argentina national side, taking the Pumas to the quarterfinals at the 1999 World Cup. After the 1999 World Cup, Wyllie remained in Ireland to coach Clontarf.

Later life and death

In June 2009, Wyllie attended the retirement ceremony for Argentinian captain, Agustín Pichot. In retirement, Wyllie lived overlooking Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui near Picton. He died there on 22 March 2025, at the age of 80.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyllie, Alex 1944 births 2025 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches Canterbury rugby union players New Zealand national rugby union team coaches Argentina national rugby union team coaches New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch Rugby union flankers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate rugby union coaches Rugby union players from Christchurch