There have been so many wonderful people that have contributed so much to the game of Rugby on the West Coast, and if a list was to ever be made of the most influential of those people, the name of Alan Augustus Adams would surely be right near the very top.

His list of achievements both on and off the field, domestically, nationally and internationally might not be known by many people these days, but the list is both astonishing and long, and he was regarded as one of the most respected men in New Zealand rugby during his long and distinguished career. 

Adams was born on May 8th, 1883 in Greymouth to Alan and Margaret Adams, with his father being a long serving headmaster of the Greymouth District High School. Adams moved to Auckland to further his schooling in 1900, attending high school at Auckland Grammar School for a single year as a member of the lower sixth form class, where he showed his early pedigree as a rugby player, with his selection for the prestigious school's 1st XV. 

The following year Adams headed to Otago University to study, with his sporting prowess being recognised even further when he represented Otago at rugby in 1902, 1903, 1905 and 1906, playing a total of 14 games for them, kicking one conversion and three goals from marks. 

Adams was recorded as being the first player in an inter-provincial clash in New Zealand to score two goals from marks, and this was achieved in Dunedin on August 19th, 1905, when playing for Otago against Canterbury. 

At some stage during Adams' early life, he earned the affectionate nickname of 'Rastus', and during his Otago days he was quite commonly referred to by that name in newspapers, some of them in fact left off his first name altogether, including some headlines simply going by the name of "Rastus" Adams. 

The name must have stuck well, as it was still being used in newspapers as late as 1929. 

Adams was a part of the much lauded three-quarter line for both the Otago University team and Otago team that also featured Colin Gilray and Donald MacPherson, both of who would go on to be dual internationals, representing both the All Blacks and Scotland. 

In 1906 Adams captained his powerful University side to become winners of the Senior Flag competition, winning 11 of the 13 games played, with only the one loss and a draw.  Adams was also selected for the 1906 South Island team for the inter-island clash in Wellington at Athletic Park, with the North Island victorious in a close fought match, 9-5. 

Adams was also a handy cricketer, representing West Coast in January 1903 against the touring Lord Hawkes XI English team at Victoria Park in Greymouth, in which he was involved in a two-hour 17 run partnership with Joe Ongley. 

Incredibly both Adams and Ongley would go on to become presidents of the New Zealand Rugby Union, with Ongley also a President of the New Zealand Cricket Council. Adams also represented Otago in two first class matches, both against Auckland, the first in 1906 and again in 1908.  Adams, a batsman, scored a total of 41 runs in his four innings with a top score of 21, finishing his first-class career with a batting average of just over 10 runs.

In 1908 while Adams was en route to London to study medicine, he represented the New Zealand Universities Rugby team in one fixture against Sydney University played in Sydney, kicking a conversion in a 26-11 loss. Once in London, he began playing centre for the London Hospital team. 

His form was such that he earned selection for the famous Barbarians Club for three matches in 1909, and in January 1910 was selected to play for Eastern Counties in the County Championship. Adams was then selected to be a part of England's Five Nations campaign in 1910, where he earned his solitary cap against France in an 11-3 win at the Parc des Princes in Paris, while also being in the reserves during other fixtures of the championship. 

Adams' former Otago University and Otago representative team mate Donald MacPherson also played in the same London Hospital club team, and one of his two test caps for Scotland was against England in 1910. England won the fixture in Edinburgh 14-5, which was on the final weekend of the championship, and it saw England being crowned Five Nations champions. 

Adams also turned out for the Barbarians club again in 1912 against Cardiff, where he kicked a conversion in an 18-5 loss in a match that was described as being played in atrocious conditions with the Cardiff field a quagmire. Adams also played Club rugby for the Rosslyn Rugby club based in South West London during the 1912-13 season.

In 1914, Adams joined the New Zealand Army contingent which was based at Salisbury Plain, where he passed the examination qualifying him for the commission of Lieutenant in the Imperial Army. 

His work was deemed so excellent that he was given the full rank of Lieutenant, passing over the post of second Lieutenant. Adams' rapid rise in the army also saw him finish first among members of the entire camp in a competition of range finding that was held on the plain. 

As a result of his promotion, he was instructed to immediately leave his contingent that were set to sail to Egypt, and attach himself to the West Yorkshire Regiment, where he served with C Company of the 9th Battalion, 11th Division of the British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force.

Adams was then involved in the landings at Gallipoli in 1915 and was wounded at the Dardanelles on August 7th that year, when he received a shrapnel wound in his right thigh. Adams was sent to Alexandria General Hospital in Egypt to recover, and was promoted to the rank of Captain, before later serving in France. 

At the end of the war, Adams remained in the Army until 1920, before returning home to Greymouth in 1921 where he became heavily involved with the United Rugby Club, coaching and managing many teams over the following years, as well as becoming a referee of a high standard. 

Adams refereed one first class match, played between West Coast v Wellington B in 1922, with the appointment of Adams to take the whistle causing much controversy.

The West Coast Rugby Union had originally appointed another official to referee the fixture, but the Wellington manager Mr Perry protested, and demanded that Adams take control of the match, and that his team would not play unless his demand was met.

The WCRU had no choice but to bow to the demand, despite Adams not being an active referee at the time, nor a member of the West Coast Referees Association. Whatever the reasoning behind Perry's demand, it did not help his team at all, with West Coast winning the match 15-6 and a letter of complaint being sent to the Wellington Rugby Union by the WCRU over Mr Perry's behaviour.

Adams would then go on to coach the West Coast team two weeks later in an away match against Nelson for the Seddon Shield, which resulted in a 13-6 loss. The West Coast team were unbeaten leading in to the match which was its final fixture of the season and featured West Coast legend Jack Steel among its line-up.

Adams by now was heavily involved as an administrator within the game, and in 1925 Adams was selected as the West Coast Rugby Union's president, a role he'd incredibly hold until 1944. Adams also managed the West Coast team over a number of years, and such was his standing nationally that he was awarded the cherished role as an All Black selector for 1927 and 1928. 

On July 27th, 1929, Adams managed the West Coast team which lost their Seddon Shield challenge to Nelson 19-9 at Trafalgar Park in front of a crowd of over 3,000 in Nelson. On the trip home the thoughts of the loss were soon forgotten when one of the three cars carrying nine members of the West Coast touring party, including Adams, was in involved in a serious car accident near Reefton.

The car skidded off the road and down a river bank, before flipping upside down, with only scrub halting the car from plunging into the cold river below. The occupants of the car were trapped fully for five minutes, before an opening was made in a side screen in which they were able to crawl through, and fortunately for them the petrol tank that had burst in the impact did not ignite. 

Miraculously all of the players were left uninjured, Adams being the only one to receive an injury, badly fracturing one of his hands in the crash. His injury was attended to in Reefton and all were able to proceed on their journey, arriving in Greymouth after eighteen hours of travelling. 

As well as being team manager and president of the West Coast Rugby Union in 1929, Adams had also been elected as president of the New Zealand Rugby Union on the 16th of May that year. The NZ Truth newspaper in May of 1929 described Adams as being recognised in New Zealand as the 'father of the game' and "to whom West Coast owes its success, while being quiet, unassuming, and of remarkable personality". 

The paper went on to say that "Adams was a beacon of light of the good old game for West Coast footballers, and one whose popularity extends far beyond the realms of football, and it's men of his type and he's a fine example, who have placed Rugby in this Dominion on its high footing as the national sport". 

During his term as a West Coast selector, the 1930's sides became a formidable force, earning a number of victories over the Canterbury team, including three wins in a row against them. Canterbury for the first time regarded West Coast as a rival of equal quality and the relationship between the provinces blossomed with regular home and away fixtures between the two sides becoming the norm.

In 1934, Adams began his second stint as All Black selector, a role he'd have right through to the end of the 1937 season. Adams was seen by the smaller Unions as a champion of sorts, using his influence to make sure they had a voice when it came to selecting sides, whether it be for South Island or All Black selection, as in the past some unions had felt displeased at apparent neglect by some selection panels.

During his time as All Black selector, two outstanding West Coast representatives were selected as All Blacks in Ron King and Mike Gilbert, with King going on to be an All Black captain and later an All Black selector himself. Gilbert, selected as fullback, was the leading point scorer on the 1935/36 tour to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, and he played in 27 out of the tour's 30 matches, including the four tests, which was more than any other player on tour.

In 1937 Adams became a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union council, a position he'd hold until 1943, and he had the ultimate honour of life membership of the New Zealand Rugby Union bestowed upon him on April 18th, 1945.

Away from Rugby, Adams was also a member of the Greymouth Competitions Society for many years, the secretary of the United Debating Club and a Member of the Mayor's Relief Committee during the depression years.

In 1960 Adams was given a wonderful tribute by the West Coast Referees Association, after they honoured Adams' services to both the game on the West Coast and nationally, by naming the new grandstand at the northern end of then named Rugby Park, the Alan Adams Stand. The grandstand was funded and built entirely with volunteer labour of the referees.

Adams passed away in Greymouth on July 28th, 1963, aged 80, and those who still have memories of Adams today speak of a quiet humble man who in his later years suffered from poor health, leading a very quiet life from his Shakespeare street residence.  Adams never married, and was survived by one nephew and three nieces.

His obituary in the Greymouth Star wrote, "Virtually a compulsory recluse through ill health, over the last decade or more, he was not a familiar figure to many of the current generation of rugby players, but over more than half a century the force of his character left its imprint on the game in this area, and many of those who helped control the sport after his retirement from active association were guided in their earlier years and even later by his wide experience and knowledge.".

Adams' obituary was summed up fittingly by going on to say, "he was a dignified figure, and more than any other person, Rugby's gentleman in every sense that that often misapplied word denotes".