Full Name: Willoughby, Stanley de Lar Poer ‘Mick’

Mick Willoughby  [All Black #355]

Stanley, or Mick Willoughby as he was generally known, was a hard working loose forward in 44 games for Wairarapa between 1922 and 1929, a decade which is generally regarded as the greatest in the history of the small rural-based union. He also played in the combined Wairarapa-Bush XV which scored a 14-8 win over the 1923 New South Wales tourists.

His brother, Seymour, also a loose forward, played for Wairarapa in the 1920s and together they were in the North island side of 1928.

Mick played in two Ranfurly Shield challenges against Hawke’s Bay in 1924-25 and appeared in the 1924 trials to pick the “Invincibles” for the tour of Britain and France.

But it was not until 1928 that his consistency for Wairarapa was rewarded when after his inter-island appearance he was used in all three matches against the touring Waratahs and in a midweek practice match against West Coast-Buller.

In 1928 he was also in the Wairarapa side which lifted the Ranfurly Shield from Canterbury and in 1929 he appeared in seven defences.

Willoughby later served the Masterton club as a coach and as president.

A son, Rex, was also a capable footballer, representing Wairarapa as a five eighths in nine games in the 1956 and 1958 seasons.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.