Tiny Hill (rugby union)
Stanley Frank Tiny Hill MBE (born 9 April 1927 in New Plymouth, New Zealand; † 2 October 2019) was a New Zealand rugby union player at the position of second-row forward, winger and number eight. Outside of active rugby he was a professional soldier in the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).
On his return from Japan, where he was stationed as a soldier from 1948 to 1949, he began his career in top-level rugby with a New Zealand Defence Force selection team. He was then called up to the Canterbury RFU provincial selection team in 1951. With them he won the Ranfurly Shield in 1953 against Wellington RFU, and thereafter defended it in 23 matches until 1956. This was followed by a call-up to the South Island selectors in 1954.
Due to his performances Hill was nominated to play for the New Zealand national team (All Blacks) in their third and final match against the touring Australian national team (Wallabies) in New Zealand in 1955. Although the All Blacks lost this match 8-3, they successfully defended the Bledisloe Cup by winning the previous two internationals.
His greatest triumph in rugby came a year later when he and the All Blacks won the international series against the touring South African national team (Springboks) in New Zealand. It was the Springboks' first ever defeat in an international series. The New Zealanders won three of the four international matches and lost one. Hill played in the three games the New Zealanders won. In addition, he also managed a win over the Springboks with Canterbury, but lost disastrously 37-0 to the South Africans with the New Zealand Māori selection team. The defeat was so devastating that in 2010 allegations were made that the then Minister for Māori Affairs Ernest Corbett had told the players to deliberately lose the match so as not to strain New Zealand's relations with apartheid South Africa. These allegations were denied by Hill and other players at the time. In his opinion, the high defeat came about because of the wrong game tactics.
In 1957 and 1958 he successfully defended the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand against the Wallabies. In 1959 he played in all four matches of the All Blacks against the New Zealand touring British and Irish Lions. Three wins and one defeat saw the All Blacks win the international series. Furthermore he also managed to defeat the Lions with Canterbury.
Because of his Māori origin, he was not allowed to participate in the 1960 All-Black Tour in South Africa, as the apartheid regime there forbade Māori to play rugby with and against whites in South Africa, which the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and the New Zealand governments accepted until the end of the 1960s, despite sometimes fierce criticism.
From 1961 he served as a soldier on the New Zealand North Island in Papakura. For this reason he played from 1961 to 1962 as a team captain for the provincial association Counties Manukau RU. After this station Hill finished his active rugby career.
In 2004, former officer candidates alleged that abuse of recruits occurred at Waiouru Cadet Institution in the 1960s. Tiny Hill was a sergeant major responsible for training within the establishment from 1963 to 1966. Although he himself was not accused, he flatly denied these allegations as implausible.
He received the Steinlager Salver award from the NZRU in 2006 for his services to New Zealand rugby.
