Herbert Theodore Lilburne (16 March 1908 – 12 June 1976) was a New Zealand dual-code international

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 it ...

and professional

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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed rugby union in the 1940s.

Background

Lilburne was born in Burnham, New Zealand.

Rugby union and rugby league career

Herb Lilburne played representative level rugby union (RU) for

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 ...

, South Island, North Island,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

and

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 metr ...

, and at club level for Marist Albion RFC, as a Fullback,

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, or

Fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, i.e. number 15, or, 13 or 12, or 10. Lilburne played for

in: * 1928 against South Africa (2 tests and 12 other matches). He also played for New Zealand in a game against Victoria, at Melbourne on the way home, won by 58 points to 9. * 1929 against Australia (3 tests and 5 other matches). Following the injuries to the New Zealand captain Cliff Porter, and vice-captain Bill Dalley, Herb Lilburne was appointed captain for the first test and at 21-years and 112-days he is the youngest New Zealand test captain to date. New Zealand lost that match 9 points to 8 but he captained New Zealand in two further games, against New South Wales (a 22–9 win) and an Australian XV (won 25–4). Cliff Porter took over again as captain in the second and third test matches which were both lost, 9-17 and 13–15. * 1930 against the British Lions during their New Zealand tour (2 tests). He also played for New Zealand in a prior match against North Otago, coming on as a reserve to replace Don Oliver. * 1931 against Australia, won by 20 points to 13 at Auckland. * 1932 against Australia (1 test and 6 other matches). He also played for New Zealand in a pre-tour match against

that was lost by 23 points to 36. * 1934 against Australia (1 test and 4 other matches). Lilburne was not selected for the 1935 tour of Britain and he switched to rugby league. He played representative level rugby league for

and

as a er, i.e. number 2 or 5, Lilburne won a cap for

(RL) in the 8–29 defeat by Australia at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 1 ...

on 2 October 1935. He lived his later years in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and after having been reinstated from rugby league in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

amnesty, Lilburne coached club level rugby union for the Zingari-Richmond Rugby Club.

References

External links

Marist Albion Canterbury Honours
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilburne, Herb 1908 births 1976 deaths Canterbury rugby union players Dual-code rugby internationals New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players North Island rugby union players People from North Canterbury Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league wingers Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks South Island rugby union players Wellington rugby union players Wellington rugby league team players Rugby union players from Christchurch