Size not necessarily the making of the man

He epitomised what it means to wear the All Blacks rugby jersey, according to veteran rugby photographer Peter Bush, but how would Ian "Legs" Eliason line up against the current crop of locks?

Physically, he falls short, but many rugby stalwarts who saw Eliason play would argue his attitude would more than match that of today's bunch.

At 1.9m, "Legs" could not stand eye-to-eye with any of the All Blacks locks on the northern hemisphere tour. In fact, of the locks or loosies lining up against England tomorrow, only skipper Richie McCaw, at 1.87m, is shorter.

The tale of the tape is even more revealing when playing weights are considered.

At 100kg, or 15 1/2 stone, "Legs" would be the lightest of any All Blacks forward running on to Twickenham and would have been 22kg lighter than England's second rower, Simon Shaw.

Putting his playing weight under more scrutiny, All Blacks second five-eighth Ma'a Nonu would have nearly a stone advantage on the former Kaponga man.

But height and weight are only two measures of a rugby man's strengths.

Arguably, the real yardstick is a player's longevity.

Jason Eaton has turned out for Taranaki 31 times from 2005 to 2009, 192 short of what "Legs" achieved from 1964 to 1981.

The most telling comparison is, of course, money.

While "Legs" would have received a touring allowance, usually enough to buy a couple of pints, Eaton's salary, made up of Taranaki, Hurricanes and All Blacks payments, could be conservatively estimated at $200,000.

Still, "Legs" at least would have had the cows to come home to.

- © Fairfax NZ News