Stalwart of Otago rugby remembered
Tuppy Diack and his late wife Margaret celebrate Tuppy's 90th birthday in 2020. PHOTO: ODT FILES
Otago rugby stalwart and one-test All Black Tuppy Diack died in Dunedin yesterday.
Ernest Sinclair "Tuppy" Diack was 94.
He was the pin-up boy of Otago rugby in the 1950s and early '60s, but he also briefly played for Southland.
He was a hard-running winger who kicked goals, scored tries and whose modest demeanour captured the public's imagination.
Diack played 101 games for Otago — he was the first to bring up 100 for the province — but just one for the All Blacks.
He played in the second test against the touring British Lions at Athletic Park in 1959.
While he did not quite make it at the next level, he was a wonderful provincial player and featured in some notable Otago triumphs, including the Ranfurly Shield win against Wellington in 1957 and the win OVER the Lions that same year.
Diack was a life member of both the Otago University Rugby Club and the Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU).
He did everything at the University club from coach to president and he was a past president of the ORFU.
ORFU chief executive Richard Kinley said his thoughts went out to Diack's family.
"He was a colourful character.
"Lovely, quiet, unassuming," Kinley said.
"He was a lovely guy.
"Otago Rugby's thoughts are just with Tuppy's family."
Diack, who was born in Invercargill, taught at John McGlashan College for nearly 30 years and revealed in a 2020 interview to mark his 90th birthday that he still had a seat at Forsyth Barr Stadium and loved watching rugby even if he was not a fan of the modern game.
"It's too much like league.
"I am not a league fan, although they do score some good tries," he said.
"But they need to get all those forwards out of the backline ... I've seen a few changes, but I'm sure I would enjoy it."
All Otago premier and division1 fixtures will observe a minute of silence today.
A full obituary will follow.
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