Former All Black Norm Hewitt has died

Former All Blacks hooker and Dancing with the Stars winner Norm Hewitt has passed away. He was 55.

It is understood he died last night after a battle with motor neurone disease.

Growing up in Porangahau, southern Hawke’s Bay, Hewitt played 296 representative matches during a memorable first class rugby career spanning 13 seasons for Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Wellington. He earned 23 caps for the All Blacks over nine seasons and was a key member of the Hurricanes in the early years of Super Rugby, missing just one match in the first five years.

After retiring from rugby, Hewitt became a public speaker and mentor to youth and was heavily involved in violence prevention programmes and advocacy and worked for the SPCA as an animal cruelty and anti-violence publicity officer in schools.

He was the season one winner of Dancing with the Stars in 2005 alongside professional dancer Carol-Ann Hickmore.

While an All Black, Hewitt had a famous haka standoff with England’s Richard Cockerill in 1997. The pair came face-to-face in an intense showdown before the match at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Hewitt later described the incident, which ended with pushing and shoving between the pair, and the English team standing toe to toe with the All Blacks, as an ingrained part of “rugby folklore”.

“It was like there were only two people on that field,” said Hewitt. “At one point I thought to myself ‘if I had a patu [club] I would have cut his head off’ and I was going into that place. I don’t know why ... it was a big game and we were going to war and he’s my enemy, [a] kill or be killed scenario. I likened it to that and yeah, I suppose it is now part of that folklore much like when the Irish stepped over the line with Buck Shelford.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission