Duncan Hales lifts Ranfurly Shield at Eden Park 1976
Duncan Hales
I still remember the practical side of the job interview in 2013 when I was observing Duncan treating a patient who referenced his time playing rugby. ‘You didn’t play for the All Blacks did you’, I said jokingly. ‘Yes I did actually’, said Duncan without lifting his gaze from the treatment bench. As soon as I could get near the internet I Googled him for about 30 minutes. Duncan was part of the 1972-3 tour of the Britain, Ireland, France and North America. He was on the bench in the loss to the Barbarians when JPR Williams scored a legendary try in what is often described as the greatest game of rugby in history. He started in four tests and played in the loss to Llanelli where he made his mark on the game (and on Llanelli player Ray ‘Chico’ Hopkins) with a flying elbow that appeared to knock the scrum-half out cold, and that he got away with!
Duncan had come across Chiropractic in New Zealand when he received an adjustment post-game that he said immediately alleviated a hamstring strain. He was able to go back to training as normal. He was given a scholarship to Palmer College of Chiropractic with the condition that he coach their rugby team being part of his contract. He practiced for some time in California and then in Colorado. He didn’t speak too much about his time in the US, but one amusing anecdote that I recall was when he took in a stray dog, only to be told by the vet that it was actually a young wolf and he’d better release it, because the second it grew big enough to kill his beagle it would.
Duncan relocated to the UK at some point in the 1990’s. He ran practices in Oxfordshire, Kent and the one I worked at in Crawley. Although I didn’t see it at the time, he was the boss I needed in my first job. We were both quite stubborn, and I spent a lot of the time there struggling to break free of the University clinic approach. It took several experiences like the one with Jane in the previous blog article for me to consider that his 33 years of experience might actually trump my 1 year in the University teaching clinic, and that he was right about most of it. The Associate position I held in Swindon prior to establishing Droitwich Back & Neck Clinic in 2016 would never have worked out if I hadn’t had the year working for Duncan first. I bumped into him several times at conferences over the following years and we would have a good catch-up and a laugh about the time I worked there. I was very saddened to hear that he had passed away in early 2024. The obituaries in New Zealand understandably focused on his rugby career, but he made a huge impact on the lives of thousands of patients and many Chiropractors who trained under him in the 44 years from graduating Palmer College until his death.
Duncan Alister Hales
1947 – 2024
https://stats.allblacks.com/all-players/profile/Duncan-Hales-AB-707
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Hales
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/301037794/captain-from-manawats-golden-era-of-rugby-all-black-duncan-hales-dies
WHY I AM A CHIROPRACTOR - 'Jane' in West Sussex