All Blacks legend Ian Kirkpatrick has broken his silence over an incident that has haunted him for more than 45 years - the banishing of Keith Murdoch.
Kirkpatrick, one of the most revered All Blacks of all-time, was captain of the team that toured the UK in 1972/73 and was an insider on the decision that sent the prop home, after an infamous late-time altercation with a security guard at the Angel Hotel in Cardiff.
Murdoch didn't return to New Zealand - he switched flights in Singapore, flew to Perth and went bush. He died in the West Australia town of Carnarvon in February, aged 74.
In a foreword to the new book Murdoch: The All Black Who Never Returned, by Ron Palenski, Kirkpatrick admits the incident was his life's "greatest single regret ".
"At a management meeting the day after the incident… I made it clear that I wanted Keith to stay on the tour," he writes. "Everyone present agreed and he was named to start in the next match.
"So it came as a real shock when, the following day, manager Ernie Todd announced that Keith was being sent home. I knew Ernie had been under pressure to dismiss Keith from the tour - what I didn't realise until years later was just how much pressure the Four Home Unions had exerted on our manager.
"The more I thought about it as the tour unfolded, the more I believed we should have put our foot down and issued an ultimatum - if Keith goes home, we all go home."
Kirkpatrick describes Murdoch as "immensely strong and a world-class prop".
"As for the man himself, he was brilliant within the team environment, always willing to help out and very popular among his fellow tourists."
Murdoch was posthumously awarded his All Blacks test cap.
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