John Anthony Gallagher (born 29 January 1964) is a former

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Born in England to Irish parents, he moved to New Zealand and played rugby union 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 ...

as a fullback, winning the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. In 1990, he moved to rugby league, playing for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, and the London Crusaders as a . Gallagher returned to rugby union and played one game for Ireland A in 1996.

Early life

Gallagher was born in

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to Irish parents. An enthusiastic Arsenal football supporter, he was introduced to rugby union at his childhood school, St. Joseph's Academy, Blackheath, where he was required by the headmaster to join the team.

Rugby union

Gallagher first visited New Zealand in 1984 and played for the Oriental Rongotai club in Wellington. He went on to play for the

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 ...

provincial team, before he returned to England and joined the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. He subsequently returned to New Zealand and joined the police there, while continuing to play for Wellington. In 1986 Gallagher switched from centre to fullback and his Wellington team won the

National Provincial Championship The National Provincial Championship may refer to: * National Provincial Championship (1976–2005), original competition before reform into 14 sides * National Provincial Championship (2006–present) The National Provincial Championship, o ...

. He was chosen for the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, qualifying through permanent residency. He went on to play 41 games (18 test matches) for the All Blacks. Gallagher began with four matches in France in 1986, and continued through the 1987 season, cementing his test match starting spot and winning the inaugural Rugby World Cup that year in Auckland, New Zealand. In 1990 he was named the International Rugby Player of the Year. He did not suffer a loss while representing New Zealand. He is considered by many sources, including

the New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

and

the Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

newspapers, to be one of the greatest fullbacks and All Blacks of all time.

Rugby league

In 1990, Gallagher was one of the first of a succession of

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 ...

to switch codes to rugby league, following his understudy

Matthew Ridge Matthew John Ridge (born 27 August 1968) is a New Zealand television presenter, and a former rugby union and rugby league footballer. A fullback in both codes, Ridge played rugby union for Auckland and became an All Black, but never won an in ...

, who signed with the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

only a week before. Other All Blacks who followed soon after were

Frano Botica Frano Michael Botica (born 3 August 1963) is a New Zealand-Croatian rugby union and rugby league coach and former player in both codes, who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He is the head coach of the Philippines sevens team. He represented New ...

(

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

John Schuster Nesetorio Jonny Schuster (born 17 January 1964) is a former international rugby league and rugby union player, a dual-code international. Schuster played for Marists Saint-Joseph, then six times for Samoa before leaving for New Zealand in 1 ...

(

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, th ...

) and two years later

Va'aiga Tuigamala Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala Pulelua Fesola'i (4 September 1969 – 24 February 2022), sometimes known as Inga Tuigamala, was a professional rugby union and rugby league footballer. Born in Samoa, he represented New Zealand in rugby union, winnin ...

(Wigan). He was initially signed by David Ward for

. He was considered one of the fastest players over 30m when he switched to league, and this was put to good early use by Leeds. He was targeted by opposition players in defence and was badly injured in an alleged ''

spear tackle A spear tackle is an illegal tackle in rugby union, rugby league and Australian rules football in which a player lifts another player into the air and drops them so that they land on their back, head or neck. Spear tackles have caused serious inju ...

'', playing away at St Helens involving Tea Ropati. He may also have found the tactical differences between the two codes difficult to adjust to, particularly in his favoured full-back position and the move was unsuccessful. Perhaps his finest moment for Leeds came in a match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

during the Australian teams 1990 Kangaroo tour when he scored the opening try of the game at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

. Gallagher's defense came into question later in that game when giant Kangaroo second rower

Paul Sironen Paul Sironen (born 23 May 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Finnish descent who was a prominent Second-row forward for the Balmain Tigers during the late 1980s, and early 1990s. He was part of the team that ...

scored two tries, both times running over the top of him. Gallagher signed a three-year contract for the London Crusaders, in July 1993, and played for one season.

Return to rugby union

After his contract with London ended in 1995, and rugby union was turning professional, Gallagher was training with Harlequins in rugby union. In 1995 and 1996 he was involved in training squads for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and played for Ireland A in the centre against Scotland A in 1996. He also played semi-professionally for

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

Later career

Gallagher took up teaching in 1994 at Colfe's Preparatory School in south-east London. He spent two years as Director of Rugby at Harlequins, from July 1998 to March 2000, before returning to Colfe's, later becoming headteacher there. His son, Matt Gallagher, is a professional player with Bath.

References

External links

*
Colfe's Preparatory School

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, John 1964 births Living people Alumni of Leeds Beckett University English rugby league players Heads of schools in London Footballers who switched code Irish rugby union players Leeds Rhinos players London Broncos players New Zealand international rugby union players People educated at St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath Rugby league players from London