Donald Barry Clarke (10 November 1933 – 29 December 2002) 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 who played 89 times (31 of these were test matches) as a New Zealand international from 1956 until 1964. He was best known for his phenomenal goal kicking ability that earned him the nickname "The Boot". He was born at the small settlement of Pihama, near Ōpunake in the

Taranaki Region Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth ...

Rugby career

Clarke was first selected to play rugby for at the age of 17 in 1951. In 1956 he helped the Waikato side to a 14–10 victory over the touring South African Springbok side. This helped his cause in being selected to play in the third All Black test match of the Springbok tour. Over his entire All Black career Clarke scored 781 points, a record that stood for 24 years until it was broken by Grant Fox in 1988. Clarke had four brothers, Ian, Douglas, Brian and Graeme all of whom also represented Waikato. Only once did they all appear for Waikato in the same match, at Te Aroha in 1961. A highlight of his career was to play for the Eastwood Rugby Club (Sydney, Australia) in an exhibition match. "One of the best days of my life" Clarke commented at the after match function. In July 1965 Clarke also helped Hornsby Rugby beat Mosman at Waitara Oval by scoring a try and demonstrating his kicking skills by kicking two penalties and three conversions.

Cricket career

Clarke also played 27

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

matches as a right-arm opening bowler, mostly for

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and Northern Districts, taking five or more wickets in an innings on four occasions. His best performance came for Northern Districts against Central Districts in January 1963, when he claimed 8/37 in the second innings. At the time, this was a record innings return for Northern Districts in first-class cricket, although it was beaten by Gren Alabaster's 8/30 just two months later.

Personal life

Clarke married in 1962 in Morrinsville. In 1977 he moved to South Africa, together with wife Patsy, son Glen and daughters Leigh and Shelley. There he set up a tree-felling business.'' Wisden'' 2003, p. 1617. In 1997, he was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident, when a 15-tonne truck hit his utility vehicle. He was diagnosed with

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

in March 2001, from which he died on 29 December 2002.Don Clarke New Zealand
espn.co.uk

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Don 1933 births 2002 deaths Auckland cricketers New Zealand cricketers New Zealand emigrants to South Africa New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players North Island cricketers Northern Districts cricketers Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Taranaki Waikato rugby union players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees

Rugby career

Cricket career

Personal life

See also

References

External links