Name: Peter Wyatt Kininmonth Born: 23rd June 1924Position: Number 8Country: ScotlandClub: Richmond
Whilst the 1930 tour to New Zealand had a number of Oxbridge blues, there was only one on this tour. That was Peter Kininmonth, an Oxford Blue in 1947-8, who was affectionately known as Peetah, with the appropriate munching of the Oxford accent, by the rest of the team. Though he had been born in Bebington, Cheshire, and sounded more English than the English players in the party, Peter had been capped by Scotland in 1949. His family could trace their roots back to ancestors from north of Aberdeen.
Peter was one of the biggest men in the team with an extraordinary chest development which he put down to having to start his day at boarding school with 50 or more push ups. This school was Sedbergh, the alma mater of many rugby internationals including Wavell Wakefield, Will Carling and Will Greenwood. He was a superb tackler, a dynamic, bustling rover in the loose and a proficient line-out specialist. Highly rated by the All Blacks for his tight defence, he tackled strongly, had a high work rate, covered effectively and actively supported both backs and forwards in attack.
He played some of his best rugby on tour. He played in 16 matches on tour including three of the Tests in New Zealand.
He had been made captain of Scotland in their last international match before the tourists departed to ensure that each of the Home Nations had their captains on the tour: Karl Mullen, Ivor Preece and Bleddyn Willams were the other captains. He resumed the Scottish captaincy on his return. Peter became a Scottish folk-hero by dropping a goal from the half way line in their 19-0 defeat of Wales in 1951. In all, he won 21 caps between 1949 and 1954. Though Scotland collected four Wooden Spoons in this time, he remained a constant source of inspiration to his colleagues and an outstanding player in the pack.
He made a successful career as a businessman, mainly as a Lloyds broker. He lives in retirement in a converted pub in Wiltshire.