Born: November 8, 1956 - Auckland
Test record: 27 Tests (1975, 1977, 1983-86, 1988-89) - 4 tries (16 points)
Tours: 1975 World Championship Series, 1977 World Cup, 1985 tour of Britain and France, 1986 tour of Australia and Papua New Guinea
Dynamic, intimidating forward Kurt Sorensen's international career was interrupted by archaic rules around overseas-based players being available for the Kiwis, but he nevertheless carved out a career as one of New Zealand's greatest in a 27-Test tenure spanning 15 seasons.
The nephew of former Kiwis Bill and Dave Sorensen, Mt Wellington's Kurt was only 18 when he debuted for New Zealand off the bench against Australia during the 1975 World Championship Series at Lang Park. He made two further appearances during the second half of the that competition later in the year in Britain.
Sorensen was Auckland Rugby League's Player of the Year in 1976, had an off-season stint with Wigan and featured in the second-row in all three of New Zealand's matches at the 1977 World Cup. He also helped Auckland to its famous '77 'Grand Slam' achievement, beating Australia, France and Great Britain in the space of three weeks.
But he sat out the 1978 season to allow him to join older brother and fellow Kiwis forward Dane at Sydney club Cronulla. Sorensen played 128 games for the Sharks from 1979-85, interrupted by a one-season stint with Eastern Suburbs in 1984.
Ending his international exile in 1983, Sorensen starred in New Zealand's watershed 19-12 victory over Australia at Lang Park, the 3-0 cleansweep of Great Britain in 1984 and the unforgettable 1985 series against Australia that culminated in an 18-0 win at Carlaw Park in the third Test.
Moving to prop, Sorensen scored his first Test try in the opening match of the drawn series against Great Britain in 1985, while he grabbed a double in the first Test and another try in the second as New Zealand racked up twin 22-0 scorelines against France.
He made it 17 consecutive Test appearances by in all three matches of the disappointing 3-0 whitewahs at the hands of Australia in 1986.
Sorensen missed the Kiwis' 1987 schedule and their matches at home in 1988, but he returned for the World Cup final at the end of the latter year - a 25-12 loss to Australia at Eden Park. The 33-year-old played all three Tests against Great Britain and the first against France on the Kiwis' 1989 tour.
One of Widnes' greatest-ever imports, Sorensen joined the club in the 1984-85 season. He captained Widnes to three straight Championship victories, two Premiership final wins, a World Club Challenge defeat of Canberra in 1989, and scored a try in its 1993 Challenge Cup final loss to Wigan.
The ageless warhorse had subsequent stints with Whitehaven, Workington Town and Chorley, before being inducted into the NZRL Legends of League in 2000.