No 44: Goldie's stunning debut (1993)
From the time he could put on his boots, Jeff Wilson was destined to play rugby for New Zealand.
A gifted sportsman, Wilson played for his country in two sports (rugby and cricket) and was said to be good enough in a third (basketball) to don the national colours.
He arrived in Dunedin in 1993, to train as a teacher, after a standout schoolboy career, where in one game for the now defunct Cargill High School, he scored 66 points.
He was quickly selected in a talented Otago backline with the likes of John Timu, Marc Ellis and Stu Forster, and scored a superb match-winning try against Auckland in a thriller of a match at Carisbrook.
Picked for the end-of-year All Black tour of England and Scotland, Wilson first wore the black jersey one day short of his 20th birthday.
Then, on November 20, he made his test debut at Murrayfield, and 80 minutes later had etched his name in the record books, scoring three tries on debut.
Those tries featured aspects of his game that revealed Wilson's great talents: chasing the ball from a kick, backing up, and always beating the first tackle.
His third try was a real gem.
Exploding into a half gap created by Forster, he then changed the angle to sprint to the goal line and beat the covering defence, which by then had well and truly raised the white flag.
Just for good measure, Wilson slotted the conversion. And yes it was from the sideline. The All Blacks won the game 51-15, their biggest win at Murrayfield.
Wilson then took over the goal kicking for the All Blacks for the following test against England but it was not such a happy day as the English won 15-9, in a dour test match.
Wilson would go on to play a total of 60 tests for New Zealand and collect 44 tries, which was a record at the time for his country.
He wore the black jersey for the last time before he had even celebrated his 28th birthday.
But he went out on his own terms. That was just the way Jeff Wilson was - a player who could literally call all the shots.
