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Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Commemorative shield to make debut
Pip Jones, 56, holds up the new shield which bears the name of her father, Otago rugby great Tuppy Diack, who died recently. The shield is made from the wood of a fallen totara estimated to be about 1000 years old. Photos: Peter McIntosh What better way to recognise a fallen totara than by putting his name on a fallen totara. The Tuppy Diack Shield will make its debut this season. It is a new competition that bears the name of Otago rugby great Tuppy Diack, who died in Dunedin last month. It will be played for by Southland Country, Southland Metro, Otago Country and two Dunedin metro teams — a north team made up of Alhambra-Union, University, Harbour, Kaikoria and Taieri and a south team made up of Zingari-Richmond, Southern, Dunedin and Green Island. It is a straight round-robin that will be attached to the end of the club rugby season. The opening round is on August 2. Otago Rugby Football Union game development manager Michael Smith said it was a great shame Mr Diack had died before he got to see the competition in action. However, Mr Diack had been aware of the concept and was very pleased to put his name to it. The wood the shield is made from is from a fallen totara tree in the Catlins area and was carved by Patrick Bowden and members of the South Otago Turners Club. The reverse of the shield. The tree is understood to have been about 1000 years old. "It's a great bit of wood," Mr Smith said. "We've put Tuppy's photo on the front of it, and a story about him on the back as well. "It looks great. It was unfortunate that Tuppy passed away [before he got to see it]." Mr Smith said the new competition was a way to bridge the gap between club and provincial rugby, as well as offer the players who miss out on representative opportunities something else to aim for. It was also a good way for players from the country to get noticed. At the end of the tournament, an Otago B and Southland B team will be selected to play in a triangular tournament that will include a Canterbury team. Mr Diack was born in Invercargill and went to school in Gore. He played seven games for Southland and 101 games for Otago. He was the pin-up boy of Otago rugby in the 1950s and early 1960s and played one test for the All Blacks against the British Lions at Athletic Park in 1959. Mr Diack was a life member of both the Otago University Rugby Club and the Otago Rugby Football Union.
Otago Daily Times
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Beloved stalwart of Otago rugby remembered
Tuppy Diack. File photo: Peter McIntosh One of the best rugby players to come out of Gore has died. Tuppy Diack died earlier this month in Dunedin, aged 94. Diack had only a brief stint in the All Blacks, just the second test, playing on the wing, against the touring British Lions at Athletic Park in 1959. Diack, who was the first person to play 100 games for Otago, was born in Southland and attended Gore High School where he was head boy in the late-1940s. He played in the first XV at the school for the last three years of his education. Though he was picked for the first test against the Lions in 1959, an ankle injury led to his withdrawal, but he did enough. He was the son of Charlie Diack, a solid provincial player of the 1920s and 1930s. But apart from a period in 1954, when he played six games for Southland, including a Ranfurly Shield challenge against Canterbury, all of Diack's rugby was with Otago. He played 101 matches for Otago between 1951 and 1964. He was a member of the Otago side which lifted the Ranfurly Shield in 1957 and the 1959 win over the Lions. Diack was a long time teacher at John McGlashan College in Dunedin. In 2005, he had the honour of being the Otago Rugby Football Union president, having already been made a life member of the union, a prestigious honour. He was a mainstay at many practices for both the Highlanders and Otago over the years. Diack played top rugby until 1964, when he retired at age 32. He scored 53 tries and 706 points in 146 first class games.
Otago Daily Times
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
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.
