Obituary: Roger Boon remembered as tough hooker

Grant Hassall and Will Johnston 

All Black number 616 Roger John Boon has died.  

Boon, aged 88, died peacefully in Whanganui on June 9.  

The hard-nosed hooker from a glorious era in Taranaki rugby has been remembered for his strong determination and commitment to whatever task was required. 

“He was pretty tough on the field by all accounts,” son Tom Boon said. “But he was the most gentle, kind and generous person you could ever meet off the field.” 

Tom did witness his father’s toughness, though, when he was coaching Whanganui. 

“They were almost physically hitting each other. That’s how they were getting prepared for the game.” 

The undoubted rugby highlight for Boon was being called in as a replacement for the All Blacks 1960 tour of South Africa. Despite initial nerves, which included leaving his traveller’s cheques at home, Boon was given an outstanding welcome to the republic – his teammates carrying him shoulder-height from the aeroplane to the terminal at Jan Smuts airport. 

Despite not being fully fit – a vertebra problem saw him miss the last five games of the tour and never play first-class rugby again – Boon won all six games he played in the Black jersey. That included a win on debut against a Rhodesia XV, 13-9, when Boon allegedly connected with the shin of his opponent in the opening scrum, a successful ploy to distract his rivals from the true objective of any match – to win. 

Boon was first earmarked for better things when J. J. Stewart selected him for the 1955 All Blacks colts tour of Australia and Ceylon. The first aged-grade team in NZ rugby history was a howling success, the side winning all eight games, scoring 211 points and conceding just 17.  

From his New Plymouth Old Boys club, Boon was brought by Hodaki Paterson into the Taranaki side the following year. He was to accumulate 47 matches.  

That included the famed 3-all draw with the Springboks in 1956 – when Tom Murfitt’s try was incorrectly ruled out. While Boon missed Taranaki’s 11-9 Ranfurly Shield triumph over Otago in 1957, he appeared in all 13 successful defences during 1958-59, before an Ark Soper inspired Southland took the Shield in September 1959.  

All told, Boon played 74 first-class matches, which included four games for the NZ Juniors in 1958. It was on that expedition that Boon aptly gave the most famous nickname in world rugby history – Pinetree to Colin Meads. In today’s terms, he played in a staggering eight All Black trials. 

A long-serving, successful coach of the Waverley club, he went on to coach Wanganui from 1982-84, at a time when the boys in the Butcher’s apron gave the amber-and-blacks plenty of strive. 

Boon was born in New Plymouth and as a child formed a long-life friendship with fellow All Black Ross Brown. He was educated at Central Primary School in New Plymouth and Wanganui Collegiate, where he played for the first XV in 1951-52. He would often bike back to New Plymouth at the end of term. 

Following his schooling, Boon joined the well-known family construction business, Boon Brothers, which had been established by his grandfather, as a builder. 

But just like his exploits on the rugby field, Boon was not afraid to get his hands dirty. As a case in point, when the Royal Hotel – now known as the Good Home – was constructed in Ariki Street, New Plymouth, in 1958, the builders struck firm rock when attempting to get the foundations down. 

They notified head office, at which point Boon removed his shirt and tie, jumped down the hole so far created and attempted to penetrate the immoveable. The building, more or less, still stands structurally unchanged today. 

Boon then went farming, initially in Kaponga, and then he took over running the farm of his wife’s family on the outskirts of Waverley. It remains in the family today. 

Boon is survived by his wife Jenny and his three sons. His daughter, Robyn, predeceased him.