McCaw & Palmer - mates off the field but on it ...

17/6/2008

The story reproduced below first appeared on the Times OnLine website last week, leading into the first rugby test between New Zealand and England at Eden Park In Auckland -

Ten years ago, a gangling teenager arrived in Dunedin from Edinburgh on an exchange visit to spend a year at Otago Boys' High School.

Tom Palmer

Tom Palmer (1996-97) was in the same boarding house and first XV as one Richie McCaw (1994-98) and they became friends. Palmer was sometimes a guest at the McCaw family farm, where they invariably messed about on motorbikes, and they could have been All Blacks team-mates this month instead of confronting each other when England attempt to win here for only the third time.

Palmer thrived in the tough, demanding environment Down Under. He played for New Zealand Schools against Wales in 1997 alongside Jerry Collins, Aaron Mauger and Carl Hayman and was invited to stay on, but his visa ran out and he returned to Britain to read physics at the University of Leeds. His story has echoes of that of Martin Johnson. England's most successful captain and new team manager could have been an All Black after making an impression with King Country and appearing for New Zealand Under-21.

The trip to Dunedin was arranged through Boroughmuir High School, in Edinburgh, where the London-born Palmer and his family moved when his father became chief executive of the Citizens Advice Bureau service in Scotland.

Palmer, 29, remembers his time on the South Island fondly.

“I got a real insight into New Zealand's rugby psyche,” he said.

“In Edinburgh I was at a comprehensive school and we played against the public school second XVs. Here I was playing in the under-21 competition. All the local clubs saw us as the privileged posh boys and were keen to give us a good kicking.”

Richie McCaw

McCaw, who was in the year below Palmer, has similar memories.

“They hated losing to schoolboys. A fair bit of rucking went on. It hardened you up.

“At the time we knew Tom as a Scotsman; it was quite interesting when I saw him turn out for England. Playing in the mud and stuff down in Dunedin, he turned into a pretty good player and has obviously carried that on. He's a good fella and turned into a bit of a mate. We've kept in touch over the years and we say g'day whenever I come over. It will be interesting to play against him. Never thought I would ten years ago.”

McCaw has gone on to become New Zealand captain and has been lauded as his country's greatest open-side flanker. Palmer has had a stop-start international career, winning only eight caps since his debut in 2001, the most recent before last weekend in Auckland being more than a year ago. Having played for Scotland Under-21 while at university, Palmer threw his lot in with England when joining the Leeds academy.

He moved to Wasps in 2006 and his part in the club's Guinness Premiership success last month has given him a kick-start after the disappointment of being culled from England's preliminary World Cup squad a year ago.