Joseph John Calnan (24 June 1876 – 31 December 1947) 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 who represented the New Zealand national side in 1897. His position of choice was loose forward. Calnan did not play in any test matches as New Zealand did not play their first until 1903.

Career

Out of the Melrose club Calnan made his debut 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 as a nineteen-year old, in 1895. He played for the North Island in the inter-island match in 1897. Based on his performance he was then selected for the tour of Australia that year. In his eight games on tour he scored 2 tries and converted one of those in the game against Central-Western Districts. Unfortunately his career took a turn for the worst as he was accused of using coarse language and being intoxicated at an after-match gathering at the conclusion of the

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 ...

game, once the touring party had returned to New Zealand. He was thus banned from participating in any rugby union for two years. After serving his suspension he returned to provincial rugby and was a part of the Wellington team that won the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

for the first time in the existence of the trophy, after defeating Auckland 6-4, on 6 August 1904. At the end of 1904 a list was released for possible candidates for the famous

Original All Blacks The Original All Blacks (also known simply as "The Originals") were the first New Zealand national rugby union team to tour outside Australasia. They toured the British Isles, France and the United States of America during 1905–1906. Their op ...

tour the following year. Calnan was not included and local supporters in Wellington were unhappy with this. The Wellington union did nothing to contest and Calnan played one more game for the province, in 1906.

Personal and family

Calnan may have been employed at the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

and at one point was also a successful rugby union

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. His wife's name was Margaret (possibly Margaret-Ann). He died on 31 December 1947 in Wellington and was buried at

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is New Zealand's second largest cemetery, located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it received New Zealand's first cremato ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calnan, John New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players 1876 births 1947 deaths Rugby union flankers Wellington rugby union players Rugby union players from Wellington City