Chris Rattue mourns the loss of former All Blacks prop John Drake, of one of the great and good of the game, in The New Zealand Herald.
"As an Auckland and All Black prop, he had been a quiet revolutionary. He had a touch more flair than the ordinary tighthead of the day, yet among that 1987 lineup he was a bulwark in playing contribution and personality rather than a flamboyant star.
"Drake was marginally ahead of a time he had no intention of being part of as player. He quietly drifted out of the game in his late 20s, after just eight momentous tests. This in itself hinted at a maverick personality - to give away the black jersey was certainly not the norm.
"I never quite got from him why he quit the game early, but suspect that he knew he had reached a pinnacle and - being rather worldly-wise and not rugby obsessed - wanted to get on with life."
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