Bob Scott

Robert William Henry Scott (6 February 1921 – 16 November 2012) was a New Zealand rugby union player who represented the All Blacks between 1946 and 1954.

Early years Born in Wellington, New Zealand, and one of six children, Scott had a difficult childhood. His father had served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Gallipoli during the First World War where he was chronically wounded. Although his father was employed money was scarce and Scott frequently went hungry. His father was employed by the Public Works Department, and the family moved to Kapuni, then Tangarakau and later Ōhura. When Scott was nine in 1930 his parents split up and he moved into a Salvation Army children's home, Cecilia Whatman Home in Masterton. Although after two years the parents reconciled, it was short-lived, and they separated permanently within a year. Scott stayed with his father while his five siblings were sent again to a children's home. Scott worked part-time and went to school until his father died of cancer in 1934. After his father's death he moved back with his mother, who had established a home with his siblings.

Rugby league career Scott started his footballing career playing rugby league for the Ponsonby club in the Auckland Rugby League competition. Scott switched codes during the Second World War.

Army After working in a warehouse from the age of 13 he enlisted in the New Zealand Army when the Second World War started. He was posted to the Motor Transport Pool in Auckland. They had a team which entered Auckland's senior rugby union competition, and in 1942 won the Gallaher Shield with a team dominated by rugby league players after the Auckland Rugby League had refused to allow the side to enter the Auckland Rugby League competition due to so many of the players being registered with rugby league clubs already. In 1942 he was posted to Egypt with the Army Service Corps in the New Zealand Division as a truck driver. He served in North Africa and Italy, and described driving trucks of ammunition to the front lines as the most lonely experience of his life.

Company rugby teams within the New Zealand Division competed in a tournament called the Freyberg Cup – named after Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg who commanded the division. Scott was in the Ammunition Company team that made the Freyberg Cup final in 1944. He also played against the 1950 British and Irish Lions. He did not play in the 1951 tour of Australia and announced his retirement from first-class rugby that year. Following the death of Fred Allen in April 2012, Scott was the oldest living All Black. He died on 16 November 2012 at his home in Whangamatā, New Zealand, where he lived during his later years.