Grant Batty
| Birth name | Grant Bernard Batty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 31 August 1951 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Grant Bernard Batty (born 31 August 1951 in Greytown, New Zealand) is a former rugby union footballer. A diminutive but effective wing for the All Blacks, Batty played domestically for Wellington and Bay of Plenty. After retiring, he coached Yamaha Jubilo, a team in Japan's Top League.
Batty won the New Zealand Superstars competition three years running, 1977–1979.
"Grant Batty" a biography by Bob Howitt was published in 1977 buy Rugby Press Limited (ISBM 0 9597553 0 6). This states Grant played 142 first class matches and scored 109 tries. He stated his 3 favourite tries out of the 45 he scored for New Zealand to be:
- his try against the British Lions at Athletic Park on 18 June 1977 won 16-12 by the All Blacks. Batty intercepted a pass thrown by Trefor Evans and ran over 50 metres to score the try chased by Graham Price and the fast gaining Andy Irvine. This was Batty's last test match.
- His second try against the Barbarians at Cardiff on 27 January 1973. The All Blacks lost that game 11-23 but Batty said he had previously tried and failed twice to beat J.P.R. Williams so he tried a kick and won the chase.
- his second try against New South Wales on 18 May 1970 when the All Blacks won 20–0 at Sydney. His teammate Duncan Robertson pumped a high kick to the opposition's goal line which dropped into Batty's arms.
Views of other rugby players
Chris Laidlaw likened Batty to Robert Muldoon, 'small, stunted and radiating a single message to all around him: "Don't mess with me or I'll punch your lights out."' (Rights of passage : beyond the New Zealand identity crisis : Laidlaw, Chris, Auckland, N.Z. : Hodder Moa Beckett, 1999. p. 101.)
External links
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