Ernie Herring (28 January 1898 – 17 September 1947) was the 112th player to represent New Zealand at

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 ...

Early life

Ernest Herring was born on 28 January 1898. His parents were Sarah Alice Foster, and Albert Richard Herring. He was their sixth born child of ten. His older siblings were Albert Edgar Frank, Amy Alice Holoyde, George Reginald, Ethel Mabel, Arthur Edwin, Ernest Francis Holroyd, and Francis Holroyd, while his younger siblings were Ada Millicent, and Ann Holroyd.

Playing career

Ernie Herring began his career playing rugby union in

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 ...

. He was a representative of the Railway team which won the Auckland club competition and he also played for Auckland. In

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

he switched to the

code and joined the

Grafton Athletic Grafton Athletic was a rugby league club in Auckland. They competed in the Auckland Rugby League competition from 1914 to 1920 as Grafton Athletic, and as Fire Brigade in 1921–22 before they folded. Club history Formation Grafton were formed ...

senior team in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition where he played for two seasons before transferring to the

Maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

club in 1920. He won the title with Maritime in the 1920 season. They did not secure the win until the final round of the season when they defeated Ponsonby United 26 to 10 with Herring scoring a try, and

City Rovers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers par ...

their nearest rivals losing. He debuted for

in 1918 in their match against Canterbury which was won by 45 points to 9. Then, in just his second season in the code Herring made the New Zealand test team. He was to appear in 19 matches for New Zealand between 1919 and 1927, including 9 tests. His

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 ...

debut was on the tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

when he played in a tour match against Tamworth which New Zealand won by 8 points to 5 with Herring scoring a try. There were no test matches played on the tour which consisted of 11 matches, with Herring playing in 6 of them (Tamworth, Ipswich, Queensland Firsts x 2, Rockhampton, and Toowoomba). Ernie Herring made his debut for New Zealand in a test match in 1920 against the touring England team at the

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the oldest park in the city, and at is one of the largest. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the park land is the remains o ...

in front of an estimated 34,000 spectators. New Zealand was soundly beaten by 31 points to 7 with Herring playing in the second row. In 1921 he transferred back to rugby union but only played one match for Marist Old Boys before transferring back to rugby league and joining the Marist Old Boys rugby league club for the remainder of the season. He then transferred back to his old Grafton Athletic club who had by this point changed their name to Fire Brigade for 1922 where at their annual social at the end of the season he was awarded a medal for being their best forward. He then returned to the

club where he played from 1923 to 1927. By this time however Maritime had renamed themselves "Athletic" and then later "Grafton Athletic" (not to be confused with the club he began his rugby league career with who were the original owners of that name before they folded). It would be four years before he would again appear in the New Zealand jersey when he played in three tests against the touring England team. New Zealand was to secure a famous series victory with wins in the first and second tests (6–0 and 13–11) with Herring in the front row in each match. He scored a try in the third test which New Zealand lost 31 points to 11. New Zealand Team for 1926-27 England Tour

New Zealand Team for 1926-27 England Tour

In 1925 Herring was selected for the North Island team in an inter-island games against the South Island. Herring ran in three tries in a 27 to 9 win for the North Island. In 1925 he toured Australia with the New Zealand team and played in 6 tour matches. And in 1926/27 he played in 30 of the 34 games on the ill-fated tour of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

including three test matches against England. After his return he played again for Grafton Athletic in 1927 but they were relegated at the end of the season and he finished his career with the

Newton Rangers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers par ...

in 1928. After retiring as a player he had been involved in the formation and management of the Avondale Rugby League club.

Life and death

On 20 April 1921 Herring married Edith Viola Wright. They had one daughter, Beverly Maureen Herring (1926-2019). Ernie Herring was a fire fighter by trade, enrolling in the force in 1916 at the age of 18. In 1929 he became the station officer at Avondale, Auckland. After attending a fire at Jerboa Manufacturing Company's wood furniture and toy factory in 1947 on September 17, at Puriri Street in

New Lynn New Lynn is a residential suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand, located 10 kilometres to the southwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is located along the Whau River, one of the narrowest points of the North Island, and was the locatio ...

he collapsed and died of a heart attack in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. He was buried at Waikumete Cemetery, Glen Eden on the cremation lawn (B Row 1, Plot 187).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herring, Ernie New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players Auckland rugby league team players Grafton Athletic players Maritime Football Club players Marist Saints players Newton Rangers players North Island rugby league team players Auckland rugby union players 1898 births 1947 deaths