Almanac Rugby – The Forgotten story of Steve Merrick: Rugby Union’s last amateur (first published in The Guardian)

An outstanding yarn from Patrick Skene ahead of Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup decider against the All-Blacks at Eden Park on Steve Merrick, Rugby Union’s last amateur. The story of how a coal miner from the Hunter Valley turned down SANZAR and World Rugby Corporation megabucks and went back to the pits.