James Duncan (12 November 1869 – 19 October 1953) 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 ...

footballer, coach and referee. He captained New Zealand in its first test, and coached New Zealand in its first home test. Duncan was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, New Zealand. He appeared for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, before being selected to play 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 ...

in 1897. He captained New Zealand for the first time against

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 ...

in 1901. He captained New Zealand in its first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, 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 ...

, in 1903. That was also his last game for New Zealand. Duncan then moved to coaching, coaching New Zealand in its first home test, 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 1904. In 1905, he was selected to coach the New Zealand team to tour the Northern Hemisphere. Duncan's appointment as coach was unpopular, and most of the coaching ended up being done by team members

Billy Stead Billy Stead, born John William Stead, (18 September 1877 – 21 July 1958) was a rugby union player born in Invercargill who played for New Zealand, the All Blacks, on their 1905–06 tour. Stead also played provincially for Southland, and late ...

and

Dave Gallaher David Gallaher (30October 1873 – 4October 1917) was an Irish-born New Zealand rugby union footballer best remembered as the captain of the "Original All Blacks"—the 1905–06 New Zealand national team, the first representative New Zealand ...

instead. In 1908 James Duncan refereed a Test between New Zealand and the

Anglo-Welsh Welsh writing in English (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Llenyddiaeth Gymreig yn Saesneg''), (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh people, Welsh writers. The term ‘Anglo-Welsh ...

. Duncan is credited with naming the position "five-eight"; as there was already positions half-back and three-quarters, he came up with the name according to the fraction between them.

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* 1869 births 1953 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Dunedin Rugby union wing-forwards {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1860s-stub

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