With his legendary goal-kicking ability, his running and his defensive skills, fullback giant Don Clarke won many games for the All Blacks.
Big
Don, Big Don 
For years at the park you could see him arrive Stood six foot one, weighed two forty-five Kind of broad at the shoulder and his thighs were thick And everybody knew that this fella could kick Big Don. Big Don, Big Don Big bad Don. Mm Mm, Big Don, Mm Mm, Big Don Everybody knew where Don called home Back in Morrinsville county where he loved to roam With his big brother Ian and the rest of the clan Kickin' a ball 'round green grazing land Big Don. After ten years rugby and many, many Tests And the crowd not thinkin' he was playing his best He decided to retire and head back home When the chairman of selectors got him on the phone: He said "Don - " Big Don, Big Don Big bad Don. He said "Don, big man, just wha'da'ya say There are three Tests drawn and one more to play Take down y' boots off that lofty nail." But everybody knew it was the end of the trail For big Don. So he played his last Test that cold wet day And all aroun' the ground you could hear'em say "The guy's too big, too heavy, too slow, He'll lose us the game, he'll have to go Big Don. Big Don, Big Don Big bad Don. Mm Mm, Big Don, Mm Mm, Big Don But with thirty seconds left and the score nil-all The opposing fly-half broke through with the ball Dropped and kicked just right for the corner A flash of jersies and three wing-three quarters Raced down the field with their ears pinned back And the crowd went wild and yelled "Black, Black, Black, Where's Don?" Then out of the blue in front of the stand Big Don leaped high, had the ball in his hand, Turned and faced the opposing side And with a mighty right boot he thrashed that hide And forty-five thousand swallowed their pride When he potted a goal from his own twenty-five Big Don Big Don, Big Don Big bad Don Mm Mm, Big Don, Mm Mm, Big Don And while the players exchanged their clothes The man behind the mike arose And said in a voice that everyone knows "Now the lager here's New Zealand's greatest beer, I suppose" Big Don Big Don, Big Don Big bad Don. Mm Mm, Big Don, Mm Mm, Big Don. |
Big Bad Don on record
45
rpm. ; 7 inch disk, His Master's Voice, Wellington, N.Z. HR.209
A side
Big Bad Don, performed by Doug Catley with The Fernleafs.
B side
What's on in the Park, performed by Mick Dawson with The Fernleafs.
Both songs arranged and conducted by Laurie Lewis.
Our thanks
to Don and Mary Basher of Taumarunui for lending us their copy of this
historic recording.
Don Clarke
Born:
November 10, 1933 at Pihama, Taranaki.
Died: December 29, 2002 at Johannesburg
Physical: 1.88m, 110kg
Position: Fullback
Province: Waikato
Test points: 207 points (2 tries, 32 conversions, 38 penalties, 5
dropped goals)
Big
for a child, he was considered too large to play age-grade rugby at primary
school. Played for his local under-18 club side at the age of 12, before
making his first class debut for Waikato in 1951 at 17.
He made
his international debut against South Africa in 1956 and surprised touring
Springboks with not only his kicking prowess but also running and defensive
skills.
Clarke, known appropriately as "The Boot," was the scourge of the Springboks,
Lions and Wallabies teams: when he retired in 1965, he had set several
points-scoring records which it was predicted would never be broken.
He had scored 1851 points in first class rugby (in 226 matches), 781 for
New Zealand (in 89 matches between 1956-64) and 207 in Tests, all records
that have been gradually eclipsed.
Then there were his individual triumphs, such as the First Test against
the 1959 Lions when his six penalties won the Test for the All Blacks,
and heading of the Sports Post that night read LIONS 17 - CLARKE
18.
Or his incredible total of 163 points on the 1957 tour of Australia. Or
the day he landed a 77-metre goal at Te Kuiti.
Or his match-winning conversion against France at Athletic Park in 1961,
kicked into a galeforce wind, which people still talk about.
But the
most satisfying family occasion was in 1961 when he and his four brothers
played alongside each other in the Waikato provincial team against Thames
Valley.
A side
Big Bad Don, performed by Doug Catley with The Fernleafs.
B side
What's on in the Park, performed by Mick Dawson with The Fernleafs.
Both songs arranged and conducted by Laurie Lewis.
Our thanks to Don and Mary Basher of Taumarunui for lending us their copy of this historic recording.
Born:
November 10, 1933 at Pihama, Taranaki. Died: December 29, 2002 at Johannesburg
Physical: 1.88m, 110kg
Position: Fullback
Province: Waikato
Test points: 207 points (2 tries, 32 conversions, 38 penalties, 5 dropped goals)
Big for a child, he was considered too large to play age-grade rugby at primary school. Played for his local under-18 club side at the age of 12, before making his first class debut for Waikato in 1951 at 17.
He made
his international debut against South Africa in 1956 and surprised touring
Springboks with not only his kicking prowess but also running and defensive
skills.
Clarke, known appropriately as "The Boot," was the scourge of the Springboks,
Lions and Wallabies teams: when he retired in 1965, he had set several
points-scoring records which it was predicted would never be broken.
He had scored 1851 points in first class rugby (in 226 matches), 781 for
New Zealand (in 89 matches between 1956-64) and 207 in Tests, all records
that have been gradually eclipsed.
Then there were his individual triumphs, such as the First Test against
the 1959 Lions when his six penalties won the Test for the All Blacks,
and heading of the Sports Post that night read LIONS 17 - CLARKE
18.
Or his incredible total of 163 points on the 1957 tour of Australia. Or
the day he landed a 77-metre goal at Te Kuiti.
Or his match-winning conversion against France at Athletic Park in 1961,
kicked into a galeforce wind, which people still talk about.
But the most satisfying family occasion was in 1961 when he and his four brothers played alongside each other in the Waikato provincial team against Thames Valley.
