All Black secret

Leicester Rutledge is a legend of Southland rugby. The former All Black Flanker and Stags team manager played 31 matches, including 13 tests in the black jersey with a secret. At the age of 19 he was diagnosed with epilepsy and was told to give up rugby. A doctor in Dunedin told him to slow down and prescribed Dilantin. But he threw the pills away and went on to play for the All Blacks and 113 matches for Southland, including a famous 10-7 victory over the Wallabies. All the while the seizures continued. Leicester Rutledge never talked about the epilepsy, until now.