Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 134: Rod Heeps

Rod Heeps was a speed merchant and national sprint champion and a prolific try scoring wing or centre in Wellington club rugby and for Wellington and the All Blacks, whose career spanned the latter part of the 1950s and the early 1960s.

Heeps’ topflight career wasn’t long, but it left a lasting impact.

He still holds the record for most tries scored in a match for the All Blacks, when he flew in for eight tries in a tour game as part of a 103-0 win against Northern New South Wales at Quirindi.

He scored 14 tries in seven matches on that 1962 tour, and he played in both tests. He also played the three return tests in New Zealand later that year and scored his only test try in the third test in Auckland.

Lindsay Knight continued his international story on his All Blacks website profile:

“But his All Black career ended the following year. After playing in the early season trials and for Wellington against England [England won 14-9] he was chosen for the first test early in the 1963 season against the tourists but was forced to withdraw with injury. This enabled his Wellington teammate Ralph Caulton to revive his own test career when he was called in as a late replacement. Heeps appeared later in the season in the trials to help pick the side to tour Britain and France but missed selection and never came close to the All Blacks again.”

In the summer months Heeps was a track sprinter.

“Heeps won three national 100 yards titles between 1961 and 1963, with a best time for the distance of 9.8s. However, he failed to ever meet the required selection standards and did not attend either an Olympic or Commonwealth Games,” Knight wrote.

Thomas Roderick Heeps was born in Hamilton on 7 March 1938 and was educated at Takapuna Grammar School and Mt Albert Grammar School before heading to Wellington where he studied to become a pharmacist.

In 1957 Heeps was captain of Athletic’s ‘third XV’ side that won the Third Grade Second Division Championship in Wellington club rugby. This team scored 252 points and conceded just 63 in 13 competition matches. This was an era of three-point tries, so presumably Heeps scored a lot of tries for this team and set up many more.

The just turned 20-year-old was elevated into Athletic’s Senior A squad in 1958, playing most of his matches at centre. Athletic finished fourth in that year’s Jubilee Cup.

He also made his Wellington A debut in 1958, playing two matches for the representative side.

In 1959 Athletic were second equal with Marist, behind champions Petone – although Athletic beat Petone 11-6 in their first round encounter.

Inconsistencies continued in 1960 (finishing ninth) and 1961 (seventh and Hardham Cup winners). In 1961 Heeps, along with teammates Nev MacEwan and Russell Watt, were in Australia with the All Blacks for the lion’s share of the season and in their absence Athletic slipped to 11^th.

The pattern continued until 1965 until Athletic became Jubilee Cup champions once more – but Heeps wasn’t part of this team because he played for Petone in 1964 and 1965 as he moved to the bottom of the harbour for work. That was his last season in rugby and he retired to concentrate on his pharmacy business.

After making his fleeting Wellington provincial debut in 1958, Heeps wasn’t required by the Wellington A selectors for another three years, making seven provincial appearances in each of the 1961 and 1962 seasons.

He played five times for Wellington in 1963, in an injury disrupted season, before switching from Athletic to Petone in 1964 and playing a further 24 matches for Wellington in 1964 and 1965. In 1964 he scored 12 matches.

Knight’s All Black profile also has the following:

“Heeps played 57 matches for Wellington between 1958 and 1965 but was not always assured of regular provincial selection against stiff wing competition with Caulton, another All Black Russell Watt and other top players such as Pat Myers, Mick Dennehy and Alan Osborne, all in the capital at the same time. Of his first 18 matches for Wellington in 1958-61 half were for B selections.”

His appearances and try tally for Wellington A was 45 matches and 24 tries.

Hist first-class record was played 74 matches and scored 56 tries

As noted above, Heeps worked as a pharmacist. He later became a motelier in Whanganui. Heeps passed away in Whanganui on 20 November 2002, aged 64.

REFERENCES

• Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
• Chester, R.H. & McMillan, N.A.C. History of New Zealand Rugby Football Volume 3 1958-1979. Moa Publications, Auckland 1992.
• Knight, Lindsay. Rod Heeps All Blacks website player profile: https://stats.allblacks.com/all-players/profile/Rod-Heeps-AB-625
• Rugby Weekly – various editions 1950s-1960s.
• Tindill, Eric. History of the Athletic Football Club 1877 – 1976. Wellington, 1977.
• Veysey Alex & Fox, Bob. Wellington’s Rugby History 1951-1979, Part 2. Tolan Printing Co. 1979.
• Headline photo credit: T. R. Heeps. Crown Studios Ltd :Negatives and prints. Ref: 1/2-207798-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23014356