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 * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, 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

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