Rugby great and former All Black Bruce Robertson has died today, aged 71.
Dubbed "the prince of centres", Robertson is considered one of the best centres in All Blacks history.
Throughout his career he played 34 Tests and over a hundred games total for the national team between 1972 and 1981.
Counties Manukau Rugby, a team for which he played 135 games, mourned his passing in a post to Facebook.
"Considered by many as the greatest centre in New Zealand Rugby history, Robertson was a giant of the game in the 1970s and was voted as the greatest player in the history of Counties Manukau Rugby by a panel of expert judges in 2020," the team wrote.
"Bruce was a true rugby servant and leaves a lasting legacy at our Union. Our love and thoughts are with his family and friends at this time."
He was the creator, or made the final pass in a number of memorable All Blacks tries in that period and was praised for his pace, silky pass and swerve, and his thinking approach to the game.
Robertson was born in Hastings and attended Hastings Boys’ High School before going on to train to become a school teacher at Ardmore College.
During that time he was selected for Counties Manukau when he was just 19 years old, and continued to turn heads with his shock selection to the North Island side for the inter-island North-South match.
His debut against the Wallabies came a year later.
He also toured South Africa in 1976 where he saw what apartheid was doing to the country and pulled out of the 1981 Springboks tour in protest of the regime.
After retiring from rugby, Robertson remained in the sport as a coaching development officer with Auckland and worked as an assistant with the Blues in Super Rugby.
He also coached Counties Manukau when they played in the NPC second division in 2002 and 2003.
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