text: All Blacks great Lochore diagnosed with cancer - CNA
  Former All Blacks captain and coach Brian Lochore has been diagnosed with bowel cancer, New Zealand Rugby Chief Executive Steve Tew said on Friday.
  14 Jun 2019 03:35PM
  WELLINGTON: Former All Blacks captain and coach Brian Lochore has been diagnosed with bowel cancer, New Zealand Rugby Chief Executive Steve Tew said on Friday.
  "Medical professionals have confirmed that Sir Brian has bowel cancer," Tew said in a statement on NZR's website. "He is in relatively good health at the moment, and he will undergo treatment soon.
  "The thoughts of all New Zealand rugby fans are with Sir Brian and (wife) Pam as they face this health challenge."
  Lochore, however, was called back into the injury-ravaged side for the test series against the British and Irish Lions in 1971, leaving a note for his wife 'gone to Wellington, playing the test tomorrow' on their refrigerator.
  Meads wrote in his biography that Lochore was 'everything I would want in a number eight'.
  After retiring from playing, Lochore moved into coaching with his home team Wairarapa Bush and took them into the top-level of New Zealand's provincial competition within two seasons.
  Lochore's rugby career was intertwined with fellow All Blacks great Meads, who died in 2017 from pancreatic cancer, with New Zealand's amateur provincial teams competing for the Meads and Lochore Cups.