David Eric Latta is a New Zealand rugby player. He played for the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

rugby team between 1986 and 1996, playing a total of 161 games for them. He captained the Otago team in 1993 and 1994. He played for the Highlanders in 1996 before retiring. Known as "Crazy", He was part of the Otago team that won the National Provincial Championship in 1991, defeated the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in 1993 and defeated the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in 1994. David Latta was part of the Otago team that played

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

for the Ranfurly Shield in 1994. With two minutes left in the game before full time, Otago was leading 20–19. David Latta was penalized for being off side at a ruck.

Andrew Mehrtens Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national te ...

kicked a penalty to give Canterbury the win. It was suggested that the penalty should never have been given, however the referee Colin Hawke, did not have the advantage of video replays during the game.

References

New Zealand rugby union players Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-stub