John Clarence Spencer (1880–1936) 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,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

, 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 ...

Rugby union career

From the Melrose club, Spencer represented

along with four of his brothers. He, along with his brothers, contributed significantly to the club's six Wellington club championship wins between 1896 and 1908. Spencer was only 17 when he first represented

in 1898 and remains one of the youngest to ever have played for the union. Spencer played for Wellington against the 1903 New Zealand team before joining it for the tour of Australia. However Spencer injured himself aboard the ship and played in only two tour matches. Spencer missed most of the 1904 season as a result but returned in 1905 to play for Wellington against the departing Originals side. He then captained a combined Wellington-Wairarapa-Horowhenua selection to a 23–7 win over the touring Australian side and was made captain of the New Zealand side which played an official test against the tourists, despite the absence of the Originals squad. Spencer, along with his brother George, made the All Blacks' tour of Australia in 1907, playing in only three of the eight matches. In the first Test match he became the first New Zealander to win a test cap as a replacement when he came of the bench to replace an injured

John Colman John Colman (died September 6, 1609) was a crew member of the '' Half Moon'' under Henry Hudson who was killed by Native Americans by an arrow to his neck. Biography On September 6, 1609, only five days after the arrival of the first Dutch and En ...

Rugby league career

In 1908 he and his brother George 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 he toured Australia with the New Zealand rugby league side. He played in all three test matches.SPENCER, John Clarence 1909 – Kiwi #40
''nzleague.co.nz'' The Spencers are the only brothers to have been both All Blacks and Kiwis.Jack Spencer
''allblacks.com'' He played in

's 1913 victory over

.''Lion Red 1988 Rugby League Annual'',

New Zealand Rugby Football League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

, 1988. p.p.151-159

Later years

Spencer returned to rugby union in later years and became a club coach for Berhampore in Wellington.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, John New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand national rugby league team players 1880 births New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players 1936 deaths Wellington rugby league team players Wellington rugby union players Dual-code rugby internationals Rugby league locks Rugby union locks