George Spencer (1878–1950) 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 ...
player who represented New Zealand in both
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 ...
and
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 ...
. His brother,
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
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, also was a dual-international.
Early years
Spencer attended Mt Cook School in
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 ...
.
Spencer was a carpenter by trade.
[
]
Rugby union career
Spencer represented Wellington in 49 matches, an unusually high number for anyone to play in those years of limited programmes, between 1900 and 1908.[
He was in the team which won the first ever ]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 ...
match 6-3 against Auckland in 1904 and then played in a number of defences before the shield was regained by Auckland in 1905, kicking two penalties in Wellington's 10-6 loss.[
After making the North Island side in 1907 Spencer, by now nearly 29, was chosen for the tour of Australia, as was John Spencer. He played in five matches on tour and kicked three conversions but he was overlooked for all three tests.][
]
Rugby league career
In 1908 he and his brother John switched to league, being part of the first ever provincial match in the country when they both played for 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 ...
against 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 ...
on 24 August.
In 1909, when he was 30, he toured Australia for a second time. He played in one of the tests thus gaining the cap he had missed in rugby union.[George Spencer]
''allblacks.com''SPENCER, GEORGE 1909 - KIWI #39
''nzleague.co.nz'' The Spencers are the only brothers to have been both All Blacks and Kiwis.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, George
New Zealand rugby union players
New Zealand rugby league players
New Zealand national rugby league team players
1878 births
New Zealand international rugby union players
Rugby league fullbacks
Wellington rugby union players
Wellington rugby league team players
1950 deaths
Carpenters
Dual-code rugby internationals
North Island rugby union players