Born: October 10, 1943 – Auckland
Died: November 19, 2024 – Auckland
Test record: 32 Tests (1965-67, 1969-72) – 5 tries (15 points)
Tours: 1965-66 tour of Britain and France, 1967 tour of Australia, 1970 World Cup, 1971 tour of Britain and France, 1972 tour of Australia, 1972 World Cup

Inducted into the NZRL Legends of League in 2007, Otahuhu icon Roy Christian MBE played 32 Tests for New Zealand from 1965-72 and his then-record 15-Test tenure as captain encompassed the Kiwis’ 1971 ‘Grand Slam’ heroics.

A direct descendent of Fletcher Christian, the English sailor who led the mutiny on the HMS Bounty in 1789, the gifted three-quarter (whose full name was Fletcher Roy Christian) played for Otahuhu from the age of five until his retirement.

The New Zealand under-21s rep was a successful sprinter and scored a try as a winger in Auckland’s 1963 win over South Africa while still a teenager. The following season he was North Island Māori’s sole tryscorer in a 7-5 defeat of France. His first Kiwis call-up came ahead of the 1965 home two-Test series against Australia, replacing injured stalwart Brian Reidy on the flank.

Christian held his spot throughout the 1965-66 Kiwis’ tour of Britain and France, playing all six Tests among 19 appearances.

Switching to centre, the hard-running 22-year-old scored his first Test try in the 1966 series opener against Great Britain at Carlaw Park and he was named New Zealand’s Player of the Year. He moved around the three-quarter line on New Zealand’s 1967 tour of Australia – dotting down from the wing in the first Test at the SCG – but a hamstring injury ruled him out of World Cup contention in 1968.

Christian played his last Test as a winger in the 18-14 victory over Australia in the second Test at Carlaw Park in 1969. He was a Kiwis mainstay at centre from the 1970 series against the touring Lions onward, scoring their only try in the Christchurch-hosted second Test in a cleansweep loss, before being installed as captain for the World Cup later that year.

That initial foray as skipper included a win over France in Hull and a try in a spirited loss to Great Britain in Manchester – but nothing could have foreshadowed the success that awaited Christian’s Kiwis in 1971.

Christian led New Zealand to a famous 24-3 win over Australia in the one-off Test at a muddy Carlaw Park. He then captained the Kiwis in every Test abroad as they defeated Great Britain 2-1 – the first official series triumph in the UK by a New Zealand team – and France 2-0 (the last match of the latter series was drawn).

The veteran’s decorated 74-game Kiwis career concluded in 1972 in less auspicious style results-wise, helming New Zealand’s 2-0 series loss in Australia and its winless World Cup campaign in France. But his legacy was sealed as his country’s longest-serving Test skipper. He had broken the record of the great Cliff Johnson (14 Tests) and Christian’s new mark stood until broken by Mark Graham in 1986.

At the time, his tally of 32 Tests was behind only Jock Butterfield (36) and Johnson (34) in Kiwis history.

More accolades flowed in 1972 courtesy of being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to rugby league, while he also captained New Zealand Māori to a win over Auckland and led Auckland in a narrow loss to the touring Queensland side that year.

Christian was a tireless servant for his beloved Otahuhu club after hanging up the boots, while he became a minister of the Presbyterian Church in 1984.