George Nēpia (25 April 1905 – 27 August 1986) was a New Zealand

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

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 ...

player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2004 he was selected as number 65 by the panel of the

New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers ''New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers'' was a weekly television programme first shown on Prime Television New Zealand on 6 October 2005. 430 notable New Zealanders were ranked by a panel to determine the 100 most influential in New Zealand his ...

television show. Nēpia was featured in a set of

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from the New Zealand post office in 1990. Historian Philippa Mein Smith described him as "New Zealand rugby's first

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Early life

Nēpia was born in

Wairoa Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

. While his birth certificate stated that Nēpia was born in 1905, he later claimed to have been born in 1908. (Furthermore, in a 1924 passport application, he claimed that he was born on July 25, 1904, in

Nūhaka Nūhaka is a small settlement in the northern Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's eastern North Island, lying on New Zealand State Highway 2, State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne. The road to Mahia turns off the highw ...

, east of Wairoa.) After finishing primary school in Nūhaka, Nēpia was to attend

Te Aute College Te Aute College (Māori language, Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams (missionary), Samuel Williams, an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary, and n ...

but went to the nearby Maori Agricultural College instead. In 1926, Nēpia married Huinga Kōhere. They had four children, three sons and a daughter. Nēpia and his family settled on a dairy farm on land given by Kōhere's family at

Rangitukia Rangitukia is a small settlement 10 kilometres south of East Cape in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is near the mouth of the Waiapu River. The settlement is an important place in Ngāti Porou and the founding place for Christian mi ...

on the

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Rugby football career

Nēpia was selected for the Hawkes Bay provincial rugby team in 1922. At that time Hawkes Bay had one of the strongest teams in New Zealand and held 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 ...

. Nēpia initially played on the wing but was later shifted to second-five eighth. George_Nepia_passport_photo_1924

In 1924 Nēpia was selected as a full-back for 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 ...

tour to the United Kingdom. Nēpia was one of the stars of the tour. He played in all 32 games – being the only player to do so – and scored 77 points. As the team did not lose any matches, they came to be known as The Invincibles. Nēpia was a fine full-back, with a safe pair of hands, a strong kicking game and a fierce tackle. Before games on the tour, he led the team's performance of a

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

that had been composed for the tour. Nēpia was omitted from the 1928 All Blacks tour of

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, probably on racial grounds. Nēpia returned to the All Blacks for tours to Australia in 1929 and against the British Lions in New Zealand in 1930. These were his last games for the All Blacks. In 1935 Nēpia went to England to play

professionally being signed initially by Streatham and Mitcham Rugby League Club in London for £500. His family remained in New Zealand. Because rugby union was a strictly amateur game at the time, Nēpia was cast out from rugby union. Nēpia later transferred to Halifax. In 1937 he returned to New Zealand and played league for

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and played for the New Zealand Māori and

New Zealand rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori language, Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the ...

.George Nepia
at ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' During July and August 1937 Nēpia traveled to the South Island, representing both Hornby and

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.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987.

Later life

Following his retirement from playing rugby Nēpia became a referee and worked as a farm manager in the Wairoa district. In 1975 his wife Huinga died. Nēpia lived out his final years with his son Winston in Rangitukia. He died in 1986.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nepia, George 1905 births 1986 deaths Canterbury rugby league team players Dominion XIII rugby league team players Dual-code rugby internationals East Coast rugby union players Halbert-Kohere family Halifax R.L.F.C. players Hawke's Bay rugby union players Hornby Panthers players Manukau Magpies players Māori All Blacks players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand national rugby league team players Ngati Rakaipaaka people People from Wairoa Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Hawke's Bay Region Rugby union players from the Hawke's Bay Region Streatham and Mitcham R.L.F.C. players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees