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In 2011 Natalie completed a large 4.2 metre long bronze sculpture of rugby legend Michael Jones scoring a try. In 1987, in his debut for the All Blacks and in the inaugural Rugby World Cup, the first match was against Italy. After being awarded a penalty try the All Blacks attacked once more and Michael was, as he puts it, "just in the right place at the right time".

As the Italians tried to tackle him he had to take a dive for the

try line and Geoff Dale, a press photographer, captured the

stunning photograph. Geoff is Natalie's father, and in 2009 came up with the idea to have that moment immortalised in bronze to commemorate the return of the Rugby World Cup and the revamp of the historical ground Eden Park.



After a year of planning and setting up the proposal it looked as though the project might stall and run out of time. However, when Murray Deaker was contacted about the idea he got right behind it and featured a short clip about the sculpture in his final episode of Sky TV's Deaker on Sport in 2010. That show along with a New Zealand Herald article caught the attention of a New Zealand insurance company who felt the sculpture "just had to be made". Christmas Eve 2010 Natalie began an eight week push to create the clay pattern. In March 2011 it was transported to the foundry to begin the process of casting it into bronze. Ten thousand man hours went into creating the 4.2 metre long, 3.5 metre high bronze sculpture which weighs approximately 1 tonne. The internal armature contributes approximately half of that weight.

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