John Wood Goddard (31 January 1920 – 22 October 1996) was a New Zealand

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 ...

player. A

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

, Goddard represented at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, 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 ...

, on their 1949 tour of South Africa. He played eight matches for the All Blacks on that tour but, as the number two fullback behind Bob Scott, he did not appear in any of the Test matches. Goddard died at

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

on 22 October 1996, and was buried at Timaru Cemetery.

References

1920 births 1996 deaths Rugby union players from Timaru People educated at Timaru Boys' High School New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players South Canterbury rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Burials at Timaru Cemetery {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub