MEN PERFORM HAKA CHEERING Due to the live nature of Close Up, captions for some items may be incomplete. ONE News captions by Hannah Reynolds and Kelsey Taylor. Close Up captions by Richard Edmunds and Toni Tippett. Tonight, Jock Hobbs ` the man who saved rugby in NZ. He saved it from the clutches of Kerry Packer, who wanted to form his own World Rugby Corporation. He saved it again when we lost the co-hosting rights to the World Cup. On the field, he wore the number seven shirt proudly for Canterbury and the All Blacks and captained our national side until he was forced to retire. NZ. It's a great day to be a Kiwi. Playing for your country in their black jersey on home ground ` I'll never forget. So many people have done so much work. Jock Hobbs. Yes. I think it's a great day to be a kiwi. Joining me now to remember Jock, two former All Black coaches ` John Hart and Sir Graham Henry ` and our own sports commentator Andrew Saville. This is the man who was an all Black captain. To get there is special. A very special man. I've got a huge amount of time for him. A special Nzer. He had great empathy with everybody. Richie and Jock were very close. A special man. John Hart, how do you rate him as a player? Very good, very competitive. He became an all Black captain. But I think his greatest days followed his rugby career. Not many players go on to become the administrator he did. His negotiating skills, empathy with players, was instrumental in his ability to save the game when WRC came along. He negotiated the save the game. And then he led the union through the magnificent times. Sav, you would watch him as a kid. There was nothing else to do growing up in Christchurch in the 80s but watch that team. He was an open side flanker like they are today ` an amazing ability to go and go and go. Dogged by concussions. I think he had to retire at 26. He threw his body into everything. Modern players respected him. What are they like about them so much? Honesty, integrity. He understood the game. He gave his all. He talked the team during the Rugby World Cup. And he was a crook man at this stage. Oh yeah. He fulfilled his dream the New Zealand Rugby ` to get the Cup and do the business. A lot of especially younger people will not understand the fact that he actually saved rugby from WRC. There was a time when rugby was really looking as though could collapse. He had to take a position for the NZ union. They had to go and negotiate with the players, who had big cheques being put in front of them. The calibre of the man was such... Probably part of the reason why players stayed as part of New Zealand Rugby Huge contracts were offered to all the top players around the country, and they were ready to defect. He played a significant role in saving the game around the country and the world. He was a very smart man, player, leader of mean. He was a very smart administrator. He sometimes didn't agree with some of the things you said or wrote about rugby, but he would always talk to you about them. And he would always shake your hand and be willing to have a chat. It was the same with everybody involved with Jock. One of his regrets was going with the Cavaliers. He regretted it. He led the team. Until very recently, Jock was very clear that he thought he made a mistake in going. He was a friend, Graham Henry? We often talked. He didn't want the game to be tarnished in any way. He gave his all to making sure things were right. A very special man. Are never forget that day in Dublin 2005, when NZ was awarded the RUGBY WORLD CUP. To see the elation and the joy was something to behold. His negotiating skills and ability to relate to the IRB were fundamental. He convinced them that New Zealand's bid was the right bid. Administrators around the world respected Jock Hobbs. He came back from the wilderness after we lost co-hosting rights. His passion for the game and making sure things are done right. He was dumped from the board and in self-imposed exile for five or six years. He came back when rugby needed him most. He never held a grudge about the loss of co-hosting rights. I do think it hurt him. He put tremendous effort into what he'd done for the game. There was a change in rules ` the number of representatives. There was a split vote, and he was the unfortunate one. He was very disappointed. Josh Kronfeld said... Otago was the first province to sign up again. Kronfeld said Hobbs' presence made so much of a difference. They knew and trusted him. All of those things added up to a package they couldn't say no to. I think he really did a good job of knowing who to talk to. The rest came with them. What was he saying to the players during the World Cup? He talked about his personal battle with leukaemia and doing things day by day. He said he was a very poor player himself, but he just gave his all. The guys were in awe. It was a very important moment. He always downplayed his playing career. The anyone to make the All Blacks is an honour and a privilege. To be a captain is another thing again. Doing a story about his son, we used footage of Hobbs scoring a try. He said he thought he looked slow in that footage, but he wasn't. Similar to Graeme Mourie and Richie McCaw ` intelligent loose-forwards. Similar characters and played in similar positions. But he related to a wide range of people. Is it in some ways the end of an era? It's a huge loss for NZ Rugby. You don't get too many leaders like that. I don't think we will ever fill those shoes. We won't do it the way he did it/ His great knowledge and passion for the game ` all levels of it. Graeme, what lessons should young players take away from Jock? Great balance ` his life outside of rugby was complete, organised. He worked hard. The rugby was another part of is life. He had great balance, and that's why I think he was successful in both. There are a lot of young players like that today. But it's about doing both things right. Thankfully we won the World Cup. We all have those images forever of holding the trophy and Jock Hobbs handing Richie McCaw the 100th Test cap. That was such... a surprise. You saw the crowd reaction when Jock came out. Happy for Richie, but to see Jock there did something. Well, he wasn't well. You could see that. He did brilliantly. He gave his maximum again, and people realised that. It was a very emotional time for Richie. Jock had to dig deep to do that. He always did. The strength in terms of how he dealt with this illness ` something to admire. He faced that head-on. He didn't duck it. He was always thinking positively, about winning the battle. The great thing throughout the process was the love of his family, the way they stood together. And during the World Cup, it was sad but really nice to see him at the games. The most important thing is that Jock Hobbs saw the World Cup won by the all Blacks and saw the success of the World Cup for NZ. He alone lead that charge. When he spoke to the troops, he talked about the reaction of NZ to the World Cup. Because when you're playing, you don't know what's going on, believe it or not. So his description... Talking about cows draped in flags and all this sort of business. He said it had united the nation. How NZers embraced the World Cup. A good bloke. A top bloke. Our sympathies go to his family. Thank you all for coming in. So, what do you remember about Jock Hobbs and his contribution to rugby? What are your tributes? Go to our website, or email us. We're on Facebook too. Coming up, we're with the men carving up the countryside to make our nation's new cycleways. And what's Taylor Swift most looking forward to for her first time in NZ? She's the top-earning pop artist in 2011. And she's heading this way. Tailor-made Taylor Swift's music's newest darling. A 22-year-old singer-songwriter with five Grammys to her name. Not content with that, she's branching out, voicing a character in a new animated movie. She's in NZ this end of this week with her Speak Now world tour, and she's got a few different ideas as what to expect from her NZ audience. Here's Kathryn Morgan. # You're the # kind of reckless that should send me running, but I... # She's the country-singing sweetheart who has taken the music world by storm. Now Taylor Swift has NZ in her sights. NZ is just, to me, this, like, magical land that I've only heard about in stories. And I can't wait to go. (CHUCKLES) The wait is almost over. In just a few days, her Speak Now tour will hit Auckland's Vector Arena. We're bringing the whole show to NZ ` like, the whole... aerialists, fire,... BOOM! ...the whole thing. So it's gonna be a really really exciting experience. For us, you know, taking the show in its full form to NZ ` I'm really excited about that. And I'm really excited about seeing the crowds and how they are. It'll be the first time I've ever gone there, so... I'm kind of excited and anxious. An`? What are you anxious about? It's the first time I've ever been there, so I really hope that` I hope the people are excited to see the show. There's no doubt about that. Her first two shows were instant sell-outs. She 'swiftly' announced a third. And when she's not on stage entertaining her Kiwi fans, the 22-year-old is hoping NZ will put on a show of its own. We have very good wine, um, good food... > Good food! Good food. Good wine. That's good. I want that. That's` I'm gonna eat all the good food. Maybe people should write in to you and send their recommendations about where to go. Seriously, I really would love to know. I would love to know what the best places to eat are, cos I love to eat. She also loves the outdoors, as long as she gets to keep her feet firmly on the ground. I'm not allowed to do any, like, skydiving or bungee jumping or things like that. On top of the fact that I'm not allowed to, I'm terrified of doing things that might end up getting me killed. But Taylor Swift isn't scared of a career challenge. No, it's not a lie! She's successfully made the difficult jump from singing to acting. Her latest project ` the animated film The Lorax, working alongside Danny DeVito, Betty White and Zac Efron. You wanna see somethin' cool? Whoa! What are those? Trees. Based on the Dr Seuss book, the movie tells the tale of a young boy's search for an extinct tree to impress the girl of his dreams. Cos when a guy does somethin' stupid once, well, that's because he's a guy. But if he's does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl. Hey, she's not 'some girl'. < What's, sort of, the craziest thing you've done for a girl? Oh, jeez. I don't know. I think I'm a lot like Ted. I'd probably go to the... the lengths of the Earth, you know? That's what I liked about the character a lot. And then he got a little bit of a kiss from Taylor Swift. He did, yeah. He did. Just a little one. (CLICKS TONGUE) I could just kiss you right now. We don't have time for that! I don't know. We have a little time. Has a boy done anything like that for you? Gone out to really make an impression? I don't think I've had that yet,... (CHUCKLES) the overt, amazing romantic gesture. So, you know, there's hope for the future. The bar's set pretty low. So maybe that's a challenge you can put out for the Kiwi boys. Oh, wow. 'Impress me, guys.' But there is one not-so-small thing that will surely win Taylor Swift's heart. There was a news article recently that they found giant bugs. The wetapunga population on Little Barrier has doubled in five years. It was giant. I showed pictures to, like, all my friends, cos it was, like, a giant bug. But other than that, um, I know that it's beautiful and that, apparently, you guys are really nice, which I am looking forward to seeing and experiencing. And now I know that you guys have amazing food. And mutant bugs. That's... Yeah, that's something I've heard. Coming up, we've your tribute to Jock Hobbs. Berocca Focus 50+ ` the new performance multivitamin that helps support alertness, clarity and stamina. MOTORCYCLE ENGINE REVS SPLASH! THUD! TRIUMPHANT MUSIC Berocca Focus 50+ ` the new multivitamin to help support alertness, clarity and stamina. So, what are your thoughts on the sad passing of rugby legend Jock Hobbs? Tom says... Rob says... Jenny says... Our thoughts go out to his family. That's NZ Close Up. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air.