Craig Dowd

Craig Dowd was an outstanding prop for Auckland, the Blues and the All Blacks in the mid to late 1990s, invaluable because of his ability to handle either side of the scrum even if his first preference was to be a loosehead.

Dowd’s versatility was perhaps a matter of necessity which may have grown out of his initial struggle to gain a regular spot in the Auckland side. Though singled out early as a top prospect while playing for the Suburbs and a New Zealand Colt in each of the 1989 and 1990 seasons under the coaching of John Hart, Dowd did not play for Auckland until 1991 and was not a first choice until 1993.

In those years, of course, Auckland had several propping options with Olo Brown, Steve McDowell and Peter Fatialofa all available.

Dowd appeared for a New Zealand XV in 1992, but was only a reserve and his only match was a midweek game against North Harbour which was played between the main matches against a touring England B team.

Dowd’s chance to break into the All Blacks came in 1993 with the suspension of Richard Loe. After a couple of strong trials he played the domestic tests of 1993 against the Lions, Samoa and Australia and toured at the season’s end to England and Scotland, retaining his place in both internationals.

But much to the chagrin of some critics Dowd was relegated to the reserves the following year to accommodate Loe’s return from suspension.

In 1994 Dowd’s only All Black appearance was to come on as a reserve in the first test against the Springboks in Dunedin. He also played for the New Zealand XV, a virtual second XV, against the touring French.

But in 1995 Dowd had taken over from Loe as the first choice for the World Cup and during the tournament in South Africa he missed only the quarter final against Scotland. In the easy win over Japan he gained the first of his two test tries, the second being scored a year later in a test win over the Springboks in Cape Town.

From 1995 through the 1999 World Cup he was usually an automatic test selection and he formed with his Auckland team-mates Sean Fitzpatrick and Brown a front row as powerful as any of the outstanding All Black units of the previous decade: McDowell, Fitzpatrick and John Drake, followed by Brown, Fitzpatrick and McDowell and then Brown, Fitzpatrick and Loe.

Allied to his ability to play on either side of the scrum Dowd, a hefty man at 1.91m and 114kg, was a reliable lineout option at the front and mobile and effective in the open.

He was in two Auckland sides which won the Ranfurly Shield in 1995 and 1996, in national championship winning sides in 1993-96 and from 1996 onwards was a mainstay of the Blues, playing in the Super 12 championsides of 1996-97.

The loss of Brown to injury at the end of the 1998 saw Dowd concentrate more on the tighthead and over his last few seasons he faced stiff competition for a starting berth from both Carl Hoeft and Kees Meeuws. But he had a solid 1999 World Cup and was especially impressive in the crucial pool win at Twickenham over a highly touted England team.

For most of the 2000 season, though, he was used mainly at test level from the bench and it was his misfortune to concede the penalty goal from which John Eales kicked the last second winning penalty in the key tri-nations and Bledisloe Cup test at Wellington’s new Westpactrust Stadium. That was the last of the 67 matches and 60 tests, the most by a prop, for the All Blacks.

In 2000 Dowd also played the last of his 83 matches for Auckland and in 2001 after 64 Super 12 matches he finished with the Blues. A builder by trade, Dowd ended his playing days with a lucrative contract with an English club. He and the North Harbour hooker Graham W Dowd, a 1992 All Black, were not related.