Stuart Sinclair Wilson (22 July 1954 – 8 June 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. He played as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for

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 ...

from 1973 to 1983 and the New Zealand national team, the

All Blacks 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 ...

, from 1976 to 1983. He was notably a member of the 1978 Grand Slam team that defeated all four Home Unions, and also captaining the New Zealand national team on the 1983 end of season tour.

Early life

Wilson was born on 22 July 1954 in Gore, but moved to

Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...

as a child and was educated at Wairarapa College where he excelled in athletics, cricket, golf, hockey, and tennis as well as playing 1st XV rugby. He also played under-20 and under-23 representative cricket for Wellington.

Rugby career

In 1973 Wilson made the New Zealand Colts team and was coached by Jack Gleeson, who would later coach him in the

. Wilson debuted for New Zealand on the 1976 tour of Argentina, becoming All Black number 772. Wilson went on the end of season tour to Italy and France, scoring a try while playing against the latter. He played in the tests at the Stadium de Toulouse (lost 13–18) and the

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

(won 15–3) and scored a try in the second test. In 1978 Wilson was a member of the 1978 Grand Slam team which beat all four Home Unions. He scored a try in the 13–12 win over Wales. In June 1981, Wilson scored 3 tries against Scotland in the 2nd test of their New Zealand tour at Eden Park. Against the 1981 South African tourists he scored a try in the 1st test at

Lancaster Park Lancaster Park, also known as Jade Stadium and AMI Stadium for sponsorship reasons, was a sports stadium in Waltham, a suburb of Christchurch in New Zealand. The stadium closed permanently due to damage sustained in the February 2011 earthqu ...

(won 14–9) and in the 3rd test at Eden Park (won 25–22). In the Third test against the 1983 Lions, Wilson scored a try to equal the New Zealand record of 16 test tries held by Ian Kirkpatrick. In the Fourth test at Eden Park he scored 3 tries taking his total to 19. Wilson captained the national team on the 1983 end of season tour during which the All Blacks drew 25–25 with Scotland but lost 9–15 to England. Wilson formed a formidable combination with Bernie Fraser on the other wing for both Wellington and the All Blacks. Others regular team-mates for Wellington and the All Blacks were

Allan Hewson Allan Roy Hewson (born 6 June 1954) represented the New Zealand All Blacks in 19 Rugby Union internationals between 1981 and 1984. Hewson played at fullback. Since his retirement from international rugby Hewson has continued to be involved with ...

at fullback and Murray Mexted at No8. Although usually a Wing he sometimes played Centre. Wilson scored: * 19 tries (76 points) in his 34 tests * 50 tries (200 points) in all games for his country * 54 tries (216 points) in 89 matches for Wellington He was a key member of the Wellington team which won the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

First division provincial rugby titles and 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 1981.

Retirement and death

Although still in his prime, Wilson retired from the game in 1984 after a book about him and Bernie Fraser, ''Ebony & Ivory: The Stu Wilson, Bernie Fraser Story'', authored by Alex Veysey, was published. At that time, rugby players were not allowed to profit from books about their rugby careers under strict amateurism rules, and Fraser and Wilson were banned from playing for seven years. Following retirement, Wilson became a rugby and sports commentator, working on television and radio. This included co-presenting an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

programme on TV3. He also worked as a real estate agent. In 2021, Wilson began working part-time as an

orderly In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. These duties a ...

at Tauranga Hospital, partly to "get out of the house" in his retirement, but also to give back to the hospital where he received a

stent In medicine, a stent is a tube usually constructed of a metallic alloy or a polymer. It is inserted into the Lumen (anatomy), lumen (hollow space) of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open. Stenting refers to the placement of ...

in a cardiac artery. Wilson's daughter, Livvy Wilson, is an accomplished sprinter and has medalled in the 100 and 200 m at the New Zealand Athletics Championships. She has won gold with the Auckland

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

team. As a member of the New Zealand women's

team, she has competed internationally and was in the team that broke the New Zealand record on 4 June 2022 at a pre-Oceania meeting at

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

. Wilson died at

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

on 8 June 2025. Former rugby teammate Murray Mexted had coffee with Wilson on the day of Wilson's death. Mexted said that Wilson was "just his normal self, chirpy with a spring in his step", hence the death was unexpected.

References

External links

Stu Wilson
at NZ Rugby
Stuart Sinclair Wilson , New Zealand Rugby History
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Stu 1954 births 2025 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union wings Sportspeople from Gore, New Zealand People educated at Wairarapa College Rugby union players from the Southland Region Wellington rugby union players 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen New Zealand rugby union commentators