James Ernest Amos (1907-1981) was a New Zealand

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 ...

footballer and coach who represented

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 ...

and coached them, including at the 1954 World Cup.

Playing career

Amos played

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

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in his youth. When Marist Old Boys were expelled from the

Canterbury Rugby Union The Canterbury Rugby Football Union (also referred to as "Canterbury" or "CRFU") is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Its colours are red and black in a hooped design. The CRFU govern the ...

in 1924 Amos was a lower grade player and followed the club to

.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. Amos first played first grade for Addington in 1925 in the

Canterbury Rugby League Canterbury Rugby League is the regional body that administers rugby league in Canterbury, New Zealand. CRL manages local competitions from senior level down to age group competitions. Canterbury Rugby League also manages the Canterbury rugby lea ...

competition and represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 1927.AMOS, James Ernest - 1930, 1932
''nzleague.co.nz'' He spent the 1928 season with the

City Rovers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers par ...

in the

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

competition and played for

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 ...

. Amos returned to Christchurch in 1929, re-joining the Addington club. Amos was captain of Canterbury between 1929 and 1935 and also captained the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

from 1929 to 1932 and again in 1934.

Representative career

Amos toured Australia in 1930 with

, playing against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. He played his only Test match for New Zealand against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in 1932. Amos missed the 1935 tour of Australia due to injury.

Coaching career

Amos became a selector after retirement, spending thirteen years as a Canterbury selector between 1936 and 1956 and spending fourteen years as a South Island selector. Amos also served as a New Zealand selector three time from 1936 to 1939, 1945 and again from 1952 to 1954.Bruce Montgomerie ''Those Who Played'', Montgomerie Publishing, 2004. Amos coached Canterbury between 1946 and 1955, the South Island between 1936 and 1939 and 1947 to 1955 and New Zealand between 1952 and 1954. Amos coached New Zealand at the inaugural World Cup in 1954. In 1952 Amos was a founding member of Christchurch Marist (know now as Marist-Western) and coached the club in 1952. Amos was awarded the New Zealand Rugby League Distinguished Service Award in 1980. Amos died in Paraparaumu in 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amos, Jim 1907 births 1981 deaths Addington Magpies players Auckland rugby league team players Canterbury rugby league team coaches Canterbury rugby league team players City Rovers players New Zealand national rugby league team coaches New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Canterbury, New Zealand South Island rugby league team coaches South Island rugby league team players