All Blacks Legend Reveals His Interesting History With & Love For Gaelic Football

Zinzan Brooke is one of the most instantly recognisable named is the history of rugby.

The All Blacks legend possessed the unique talent of being both an agile forward and having an impressive kicking side to his game. Setting a world record for his specific era – Brooke scored 17 Test rugby tries.

He was a vital member of the New Zealand World Cup squad in 1991 and 1995 and contributed an unforgettable moment which has gone down in rugby folklore against England during the 1995 showpiece.

With the posts lying 47 metres away from the rampaging No.8 – Brooke set his sights and nailed an outrageous drop goal – and in the process propelling him into the rugby spotlight.

Brooke was a guest on the Off The Ball roadshow last night and explains where his excellent kicking game came from.

I played Gaelic football for about eight years.

I lived about 100 metres from a guy called Bernie McCahill. His Dad was from Donegal and he introduced me to [the sport]. I was playing under-21s and I was about 17 and he said ‘how would you like to play a bit of Gaelic?’ I said ‘What?’ He said, ‘a bit of Gaelic football’.

Gaelic football was just a foreign word to me I said ‘yeah, I’ll try it’. Quickly, I picked up the skill-sets for it and loved it. I played it for about seven years, so I still remember playing against France in 1994 on a Saturday and played Gaelic on a Sunday – and I won that game as well.

Interesting comments from the former All Black. Time to get start getting more forwards to try their hands at Gaelic Football!