Daniel Gilchrist (1882–1964) was a New Zealand

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 was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.

Early years

Daniel Gilchrist was born in 1882 to Margaret Ann Strain Gilchrist and John Henderson Gilchrist. He was the eldest of 6 children with his younger siblings; Matilda (b.1884), Margaret (b.1886), John (b.1887), William (b.1890), and Alexander (b.1892). Gilchrist was a plumber by trade.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996.

Rugby Football

Gilchrist played

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 ...

for the Melrose Club senior side in 1904 and represented

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 ...

consistently from 1904 to 1907. His debut match for Wellington was against Wairarapa on 4 June 1904 and he played in one further match that season against Buller on 13 August. Gilchrist was part of the Wellington squad that won the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

against Auckland in 1904 on their Northern Tour. He had played in the match 4 days earlier against Hawke's Bay on 2 August but was not in the match day team for the shield challenge. In 1906 he was elected on to the management committee of the Melrose club and again in 1907.

Rugby League

Despite being only 23, Gilchrist was selected for the professional All Blacks in their 1907–08 tour of Great Britain and Australia. Like all members of the tour, Gilchrist subsequently received a life ban from the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

. He played in the first ever trans-Tasman test which was the debut match of the

Australia national rugby league team The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of Rugby league in Australia, the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Admin ...

. Altogether, Gilchrist played in six test matches while on tour. On his return to New Zealand, Gilchrist continued playing

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 ...

, representing

. Despite his life ban when he returned from the tour his Melrose club held an evening for him at the Mawson's Rooms on Cuba Street to celebrate his return and efforts for the club in the previous season. He was also adjudged the best forward in the senior side in the 1907 season. After his return he applied for reinstatement to rugby under the grounds that he was not a member of any club at the time of his suspension and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the union. The rugby union refused the application. Instead Gilchrist was selected for a 'northern tour' by a Wellington side to play against Auckland in the following weeks. In 1908 he was the coach of the Melrose rugby club side despite not being allowed to play rugby. Melrose senior side

In 1909 he was selected for the New Zealand tour of Australia but was unable to go.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilchrist, Daniel New Zealand plumbers New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Wellington rugby league team players Rugby league props Rugby league locks New Zealand builders 1882 births 1964 deaths