James Donald Watson (10 August 1872 – 25 December 1958) 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

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

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 ...

, in 1896. He played one match for the All Blacks, against

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_ ...

at Wellington. Following the death of

Henry Butland Henry Butland (11 February 1872 – 2 December 1956) was a rugby union player who represented New Zealand in the national side (the All Blacks), playing in the halfback position. Born in Westport in 1872, he represented West Coast at a p ...

in 1956, Watson was the oldest living All Black.

References

1872 births 1958 deaths English emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Rochdale Taranaki rugby union players {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1870s-stub