Desmond Lawrence Christian (9 September 1923 – 30 August 1977) 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 and coach. A number 8 and

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, Christian represented

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the

All Blacks 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 ...

, on their 1949 tour of South Africa. He played 11 matches for the All Blacks on that tour, including one international. He later coached the

Horowhenua Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kapiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of ...

representative team, and was a selector for the North Island (1963–69) and national (1964–66) sides.

References

1923 births 1977 deaths Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Rugby union props Rugby union number eights New Zealand rugby union coaches {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub