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Robert George 'Burly Bob' Deans

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TitleRobert George 'Burly Bob' DeansDescriptionFor all the wealth of other sporting talent in the Deans family, it will always be rugby that conversation turns to – and principally to Bob Deans.

Bob Deans died early of an untimely illness, but two of his younger brothers described his legacy. Douglas used to say that 'Bob Deans had a presence. He would enter a room and immediately, without doing or saying anything, he would have the respect of everyone in that room. He was a very decent and upright man'. Bill Deans had other memories of ‘a very prim and proper sort of fellow and at the same time a very commanding chap’.

‘Bob was a terrific chap, really. Popular with everybody, and he straightened the Glentunnel crowd up. They were a rough, cursing, swearing bunch, drinking hard and everything. Miners and pottery workers. Bob was asked to be captain of the Black Diamonds team; and he said he would take it on if they mended their ways. And he won them round. In the end they were as good a team as you’ve ever struck.’

Beginning his ruby career in the Christchurch Boys’ High School 1st XV, 1898-1901, Bob Deans grew to be a robust three-quarter standing 1.8m (six feet) and weighing 84.5kgs. ‘Burly Bob’ was his nick name. He represented Canterbury and the South Island most years from 1903 to 1908, and was the youngest member of the victorious 1905-06 All Black touring team. During this tour, he played 20 games in Britain and two in North America. It was said of Deans in a report of the match against Ireland: Deans has a tremendous turn of speed…and possessed of the strength of a young ox he carves his way through opponents like an avalanche.

Bob is best remembered for his disputed ‘try’ in the Welsh international game, the only game in which New Zealand was beaten. Deans, a totally honest individual for whom any sort of lie or deception would have been unthinkable, claimed that his try about eight yards from the posts (scored late in the second half of the game) was a valid one. However by the time the referee arrived on the scene, Deans had been pulled back into the field of play by the duplicitous Welsh. The referee, thinking Deans had not quite got there, ordered a five-yard scrum and so ignited a controversy which has never died down. The following, Deans was invited to send his version of events to the Daily Mail in a reply-paid telegram. His message read:

Grounded ball six inches over line some Welsh players admit try. Hunter and Glasfow can confirm was pulled back by Welshmen before referee arrived.

If Bob Deans ‘try’ had been allowed, it would almost certainly have been converted, giving the All Blacks an undefeated record for that tour. Deans was captain of the Canterbury team until 1908, the year he died of complications following an appendix operation. His memory is perpetuated at Christchurch Boys’ High School by a plaque and the Robert Deans Scholarship.
Date of Birth1884Place of BirthChristchurchDate of Death1908Cause of DeathPeritonitis

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CollectionHomesteads and LodgesSportsPersonRobbie and Bruce DeansLouise DeansJohn DeansImage1905 Original All Black Practice Jersey worn by Bob Deans Robert 'Burly Bob' Deans' All Blacks cap at Homebush MuseumVideoSport Museum at Homebush Stables

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Written ByGordon OgilvieTaken FromExcerpt from Pioneers of the Plains: The Deans of Canterbury

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Robert George 'Burly Bob' Deans