William Donald Watson (22 December 1869 – 25 March 1953) was a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, Watson represented

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side in 1893 and 1896. He played three matches for New Zealand, including matches against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, but did not appear in any Test matches as New Zealand did not play its first full international until 1903. Later in his life, Watson was a judge at

sheepdog trials A sheepdog trial (also herding event, stock dog trial or simply dog trial) — is a competition or test for working abilities of Herding dog, herding breeds dogs. It is a type of List of dog sports, dog sport that emerged in the 1860s in New Zeala ...

. He died at

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

on 25 March 1953, and was buried at the Archer Street Cemetery.

References

1869 births 1953 deaths People from Eketāhuna New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Wairarapa rugby union players Rugby union forwards New Zealand referees and umpires Burials at Archer Street Cemetery New Zealand rugby union referees {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1860s-stub