Warrick Lee "Mac" McCallion (26 July 1950 – 14 March 2018) 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. McCallion served in the

Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment The Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment is the parent administrative regiment and corps of regular and reserve infantry battalions in the New Zealand Army. It was originally formed in 1947 with a singular Regular regiment and multiple reserve ...

of the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Aged 17, and having lied about his age to enlist, he was a member of the secret Faceless 26 Ghost Unit of the

New Zealand Special Air Service The 1st New Zealand Special Air Service Regiment, abbreviated as 1 NZSAS Regt, is the special forces unit of the New Zealand Army, closely modelled on the British Special Air Service (SAS). It was formed on 7 July 1955. It traces its origins to ...

. After the war, he played for

Counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

from 1976 to 1980, and made eight appearances for New Zealand Māori in the late 1970s. McCallion was named New Zealand coach of the year for his work with the NPC Division One team

in both 1996 and 1997. He enhanced his reputation further as

Graham Henry Sir Graham William Henry (born 8 June 1946) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. Nicknamed 'Ted', he led New Zealand to win the 2011 World Cup. Henry played rugby union for ...

's assistant at the

Auckland Blues The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

during a four-year spell that saw them reach three consecutive

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

finals, lifting the trophy on two occasions in 1997 and 1998. McCallion was appointed Fiji's national coaching director in March 2002. He took the Fiji national team to the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

, but quit later that year, citing frustration at Fiji being overlooked for tournaments by the stronger rugby nations. McCallion died in

Manurewa Manurewa is a suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located south of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of the Auckland City Centre. It is home to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which receives over a million visitors a year. Manurewa h ...

on 14 March 2018 after a battle with cancer. He was survived by his wife Suzie, two children Dion and Zeb, one step-child Bowen and daughter in law Robyn. He has 5 grandchildren.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCallion, Mac 1950 births 2018 deaths New Zealand rugby union players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand Army soldiers New Zealand military personnel of the Vietnam War Fiji national rugby union team coaches New Zealand expatriates in Fiji Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Counties Manukau rugby union players Rugby union number eights Rugby union flankers New Zealand rugby union coaches