Graham Neil Kenneth Mourie was born in Opunake on 5 September 1952. He was educated at the local primary and high schools before studying at New Plymouth Boys High School and then Victoria University. Having played at flanker for Wellington in 1973 and 1974 he moved to Taranaki in 1975 and went on to captain the province in 90 of his 100 games over the course of the next seven years. At various times he also captained New Zealand Juniors, North Island and, most memorably, the All Blacks in 58 of his 61 appearances. The latter included the captaincy in 19 of his 21 tests between 1977 and 1982. He was New Zealand's captain on the Grand Slam tour to the United Kingdom in 1978 and again in 1979 and 1980. In 1982 he led the Barbarians on their 'mini-tour' of two matches against Waterloo and Racing Club. He also had two spells of club rugby in France with Paris University Club. Graham Mourie served on the board of the New Zealand Rugby Union and became its representative on the IRB.