Hugely influential in his day, he has largely become forgotten in modern times although George Nēpia and Bert Cooke, two of his better-remembered contemporaries, acknowledged the significance of his role in assisting their success.

His father Syd was a co-founder of the Poneke Football Club in Wellington in 1883, his brothers Harold "Doc" and Harry "Ginger" were briefly All Blacks in the early 1920s, while his sister Dulcie won several national tennis titles during the 1930s.

His performances were so eye-catching he was almost immediately selected to play provincially for Wellington where he made such an impression he was drafted into the All Blacks for the Test series against the touring Springboks in 1921.

Nicholls then went on to score all his team's points and ensure a surprise 13–5 victory for the All Blacks to square the series at 2–2, the best result for New Zealand in South Africa for 68 years.

To the forward play obsessed British, it was a tactic they found almost blasphemous – although John Wisden's rugby Football Almanac was impressed enough to name Nicholls one of their Players of the Year and even credited him with being responsible for most of the All Blacks' tries.

The South Africans themselves were baffled as to why Nicholls had not been selected before the decisive Fourth Test with their tactical genius Bennie Osler musing: "Why this player was so consistently overlooked throughout the tour I will never know, but we Springboks were certainly grateful that Mark did not get more opportunities against us.

Mark repaid their contrition by scoring all the All Blacks' 13 points in a virtually single-handed demolition of the Springboks in the Fourth Test to spare his fellow New Zealanders' blushes.

[11] Perhaps Grant Fox was the last great All Black first five eighth to show a similar dominant kicking game and intense chess player-like thinking on the football field.