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.
Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.
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FULL NAME |
Craig William Dowd |
BORN |
Sunday, 26 October 1969 in Auckland |
AGE |
40 |
PHYSICAL |
1.91m, 114kg |
POSITION |
Prop |
LAST SCHOOL |
Liston College |
RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from) |
Auckland Suburbs |
PROVINCE |
Auckland |
RUGBY NICKNAME |
Jethro |
ALL BLACK DEBUT |
Saturday, 12 June 1993
v British & Irish Lions at Christchurch
aged 23 years, 229 days |
INTERNATIONAL DEBUT |
Saturday, 12 June 1993
v British & Irish Lions at Christchurch
aged 23 years, 229 days |
LAST TEST |
Saturday, 5 August 2000
v Australia at Wellington
aged 30 years, 284 days |
ALL BLACK TESTS |
60 (0 as Captain) |
ALL BLACK GAMES |
7 (0 as Captain) |
TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES |
67 (0 as Captain) |
ALL BLACK TEST POINTS |
10pts (2t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
ALL BLACK GAME POINTS |
5pts (1t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS |
15pts (3t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
ALL BLACK NUMBER |
931 |
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The All Black Games that Dowd played.
(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced |
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Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card |
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1993 |
12 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Christchurch 20-18 |
26 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 7-20 |
3 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Auckland 30-13 |
17 Jul vs Australia at Dunedin 25-10 |
31 Jul vs Samoa at Auckland 35-13 |
23 Oct vs London & SE Division at London 39-12 |
30 Oct vs England South West at Redruth 19-15 |
7 Nov vs England 'A' at Gateshead 26-12 |
13 Nov vs Scotland 'A' at Glasgow 20-9 (-) |
20 Nov vs Scotland at Edinburgh 51-15 |
27 Nov vs England at London 9-15 |
4 Dec vs Barbarians at Cardiff 25-12 |
1994 |
9 Jul vs South Africa at Dunedin 22-14 (+) |
1995 |
22 Apr vs Canada at Auckland 73-7 |
27 May vs Ireland at Johannesburg 43-19 |
31 May vs Wales at Johannesburg 34-9 |
4 Jun vs Japan at Bloemfontein 145-17 |
18 Jun vs England at Cape Town 45-29 |
24 Jun vs South Africa at Johannesburg 12-15 (-) |
22 Jul vs Australia at Auckland 28-16 |
29 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 34-23 |
28 Oct vs Italy at Bologna 70-6 |
4 Nov vs Languedoc-Roussillon at Beziers 30-9 |
11 Nov vs France at Toulouse 15-22 |
18 Nov vs France at Paris 37-12 |
1996 |
7 Jun vs Samoa at Napier 51-10 |
15 Jun vs Scotland at Dunedin 62-31 |
22 Jun vs Scotland at Auckland 36-12 |
6 Jul vs Australia at Wellington 43-6 |
20 Jul vs South Africa at Christchurch 15-11 |
27 Jul vs Australia at Brisbane 32-25 |
10 Aug vs South Africa at Cape Town 29-18 |
17 Aug vs South Africa at Durban 23-19 |
24 Aug vs South Africa at Pretoria 33-26 |
31 Aug vs South Africa at Johannesburg 22-32 |
1997 |
14 Jun vs Fiji at Albany 71-5 |
21 Jun vs Argentina at Wellington 93-8 |
28 Jun vs Argentina at Hamilton 62-10 |
5 Jul vs Australia at Christchurch 30-13 |
19 Jul vs South Africa at Johannesburg 35-32 |
26 Jul vs Australia at Melbourne 33-18 |
9 Aug vs South Africa at Auckland 55-35 (-) |
16 Aug vs Australia at Dunedin 36-24 |
8 Nov vs Llanelli at Llanelli 81-3 |
15 Nov vs Ireland at Dublin 63-15 |
22 Nov vs England at Manchester 25-8 |
29 Nov vs Wales at London 42-7 |
1998 |
20 Jun vs England at Dunedin 64-22 |
27 Jun vs England at Auckland 40-10 |
11 Jul vs Australia at Melbourne 16-24 |
25 Jul vs South Africa at Wellington 3-13 |
1 Aug vs Australia at Christchurch 23-27 (-) |
29 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 14-19 (+) |
1999 |
7 Aug vs South Africa at Pretoria 34-18 (+) |
28 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 7-28 (+) |
3 Oct vs Tonga at Bristol 45-9 (+) |
9 Oct vs England at London 30-16 |
14 Oct vs Italy at Huddersfield 101-3 |
24 Oct vs Scotland at Edinburgh 30-18 |
31 Oct vs France at London 31-43 (-) |
4 Nov vs South Africa at Cardiff 18-22 (-) |
2000 |
16 Jun vs Tonga at Albany 102-0 |
24 Jun vs Scotland at Dunedin 69-20 (+) |
1 Jul vs Scotland at Auckland 48-14 (+) |
15 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 39-35 (+) |
22 Jul vs South Africa at Christchurch 25-12 (+) |
5 Aug vs Australia at Wellington 23-24 (+) |
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