Former All Black captain Buck Shelford knighted

At the bottom of the pile of invoices sent to his Auckland home, one of New Zealand's toughest rugby players discovered the secret his wife had been keeping.

From today, the former All Black captain known as Buck, upgrades to Sir Wayne "Buck" Shelford.

And this time it is official.

Shelford's knighthood for services to rugby and the community in the Queen's Birthday Honours was not a surprise to his wife, Jo, who had played a part in helping those people in Māoridom who had nominated him.

"I put this letter [from Government House] in front of her and she just looked at me and laughed," Shelford said of his own discovery that he was among the four New Zealanders to be knighted today.

Shelford said he been trying to get his whānau to call him Sir for years. But now he had the official honour to back up his request.

Part of the reason why Shelford was honoured was his work to bring the mana back to the All Blacks haka.

The number 8 joined the All Blacks in 1985 as a 27-year-old with a background in the Defence Force and 10 years of kapa haka behind him.

The way military approached kapa haka compared with the "embarrassing" way the All Blacks did the haka at the time struck Shelford.

He wanted to change it. But he knew he needed to get his European teammates on board.

"I grew up watching the All Blacks do the haka and it was quite comical really the way they did it because they weren't very well trained. I don't think they ever practised it, and they were all out of sync at times and sometimes their actions weren't the same," Shelford said.

"A lot people hated doing it, I know that a lot of the All Blacks that were Europeans, they didn't like doing it."

Listen to the interview with Sir Wayne Shelford on Karyn Hay presents: Queen's Birthday

In hooker Hika Reid, Shelford found an ally and was able to turn the tide.

"I said you've got to buy into this, you've got to learn the tikanga of it, you need to learn the words correctly, and we kept the actions pretty simple and from there we got total buy in from the management and the senior players and so we got out there and started doing it and got better and better."

Created 'something special'

The first time the All Blacks performed the haka on home soil was the 1987 World Cup in New Zealand.

"From there it grew exponentially ... we created something quite special and I believe we brought mana back into that haka and everyone now that does it is also proud of doing it."

Shelford only lost once in an All Blacks jersey.

It was a loss that Shelford said propelled the All Blacks to be world champions.

On that losing day in 1986 against France, Shelford left the field battered and bruised.

He was concussed, lost a few teeth and sustained his infamous scrotum injury - that people still liked to talk to him about.

"They always bring it up and the stories are getting bolder and bigger."

Concussion is now treated seriously, with instant off-field assessments of the players, but Shelford said his captain that day, Jock Hobbs, did not want him to leave the field so he carried on for as long as he could.

"My head was throbbing, I just didn't know where the ball was at times and I was running all over the place and trying to catch up but by the time I got there the ball was already gone.

"So I did go off eventually but out of the three injuries it was the head concussion that basically hurt me the most.

"I was having headaches for months, I couldn't run. Every time I went for a training jog or something like that I'd get a headache and I just stopped training and [started] resting more than anything else because it was quite a nasty knock."

The welt on his forehead, inflicted by French front-rower Jean-Pierre Garuet, became like a "third eye" and remained for about a month after the match.

Shelford went on to be a world cup winner in 1987 but before lifting the Webb Ellis Cup he was also involved in one of New Zealand rugby's most divisive moments - the rebel Cavaliers tour to South Africa in 1986.

Several All Blacks, without the backing of the New Zealand Rugby Union, chose to head to Africa to play during a time in which New Zealand had an anti-apartheid stance.

"I'm glad I went on that tour, a lot of people were vilified because of going over there during that time, and I thought to myself if don't go and play rugby there now I might never have the opportunity during my period in the All Blacks."

Shelford was dropped from the All Blacks in 1990, after playing 48 times including 22 Tests, a move fans did not agree with.

It started the "Bring back Buck" campaign which implored the selectors to reinstate the man who had a record-setting 14 consecutive Test victories as captain.

Shelford has since spoken with the selectors about the incident and he said coach Alex "Grizz" Wyllie had a few regrets.

"He said: 'it's the worst decision I ever made in my coaching career' and said 'if I could turn back the clock,' he said, 'I would never have dropped you again'."

Shelford did not harbour any hard feelings about the way he left the national team.

"You get knocked down but you've got to get back up and move on. After losing the [All Blacks] captaincy in 1990 I was over in England and Italy for the next five years and really enjoyed my time over there."

Since ending his playing days Shelford has used his profile to raise money for charities and put the spotlight on men's health.

In 2007, Shelford was diagnosed with non hodgkin's lymphoma.

While undergoing treatment he saw a lack of information targeting testicular cancer or men's breast cancer - so he started advocating for men to get informed and to get checked.

"Men are pretty staunch especially when they talk about prostate cancer, they know where it is and what's going to happen, so just trying to get men to change their mindset on their health.

"Cancers will turn up at anytime in your life, you just don't know what's going to be around the corner to kick you in the bum."

Being overweight was another health issue that Shelford said men needed to be wary of.

He recently worked with several former All Blacks for a television programme which helped get the players back in shape after they had gained weight post their playing days.

"When you're in the All Blacks, or in the military like I was, you get looked after - you have to go and get a medical every year.

"Usually a lot of ex-military people once they leave the military they don't get checkups any more."

Shelford was also involved with the Ministry of Health's Life Keeper Suicide Prevention programme.