Charles James Fitzgerald (6 June 1899, in Fairhall – 8 May 1961, in Awatere Valley) was a New Zealand dual-code international

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

er who represented New Zealand in

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

. Fitzgerald was a utility back in both codes.

Rugby union career

Fitzgerald represented

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

between 1917 and 1921, appearing for the union in every backline position except fullback. He played for a combined Nelson-

- Golden Bay-Motueka side against the 1921 Springboks kicking a penalty goal in the side's 26–3 defeat. In that game he lined up alongside fellow future dual-international

Jim O'Brien Jim O'Brien may refer to: Sports Basketball *Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1950), American coach for Emerson College, Ohio State and Boston College *Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1951), American player for the New York Nets and Memphis Sounds *Jim ...

. Fitzgerald played for the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

in 1922, scoring a try in the inter-island match. Following this he was selected for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, playing in five matches on a tour of New Zealand and Australia. Fitzgerald represented

(RU) in the 12–11 victory over Wairarapa at Carterton on 19 July 1922, the 26–19 victory over

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 ...

at Sydney on 29 July 1922, the 24–6 victory over Metropolitan Union at Sydney on 2 August 1922, the 6–8 defeat by

at Sydney on 7 August 1922, and scored a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the 45–11 victory over Manawatu-

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

XV at

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

on 16 August 1922 but never played a Test match for the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

.Charles Fitzgerald
''stats.allblacks.com'' In 1923 Fitzgerald moved to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, joining the Marist Old Boys club. However the club was expelled from the

Canterbury Rugby Union The Canterbury Rugby Football Union (also referred to as "Canterbury" or "CRFU") is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Its colours are red and black in a hooped design. The CRFU govern the ...

in April 1924 and Fitzgerald followed the club to play

Rugby league career

Fitzgerald excelled in rugby league and in his debut year he made the national side, playing in two Test matches against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. He played for the

in 1925.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. p.193.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Charles 1899 births 1961 deaths Dual-code rugby internationals Canterbury rugby league team players Marlborough rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Sportspeople from the Marlborough Region Rugby league centres Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union wings South Island rugby league team players South Island rugby union players Rugby league wingers