James Scott Haig (7 December 1924 – 28 October 1996) was a Scottish-born 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 ...

er 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 ...

in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

Early years

Haig was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

but emigrated to New Zealand at a young age with his family and grew up in Kaitangata in

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 ...

. His elder brother, Laurie, was also an

All Black 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, ...

.Jimmy Haig
'allblacks.com'' Another brother, Bert, played for Otago in rugby union while another,

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, represented the province in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Rugby union career

Haig made his first grade debut for

in 1945, playing in four matches, and also playing for the South Island and a New Zealand XV that year. He played in another five matches in 1946 for Otago and again represented the South Island. Haig made his

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 ...

debut 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 ...

on 14 September 1946. He played in the next Test match on 28 September, but this was also to be his last, as Haig switched codes to

the following season.

Rugby league career

Haig moved to Canterbury in 1947, playing for the new Prebbleton club 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 representing

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. Pat Smith had lured him north from Dunedin with a cash incentive and a barman's job. He made his debut for the

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

that same year.HAIG, James Scott 1947 – 54 – Kiwi #300
''nzleague.co.nz'' Part of Haig's reason for the switch was the opportunity to tour Great Britain and Haig was selected for the Kiwis 1947–48 tour of his place of birth. He was the New Zealand captain for nine Test matches between 1951 and 1954. Haig moved clubs in 1952, joining the new Marist club.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987 Haig returned to Otago in 1954, representing

and again being selected for the Kiwis. He retired at the end of the year.

Later years

Haig later coached the Pirates club in the

Otago Rugby Union The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in ...

competition, where his son Barry played. He was the last New Zealand

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

until

Kurt Sherlock Kurt Sherlock is a dual international representing his home country of New Zealand in both rugby codes union and league, though he was never capped for a Test match under the union code. He made his rugby league début for the Kiwis in 1989.Cof ...

in 1989.Lion Red 1989 Rugby League Annual ''New Zealand Rugby League'', p. 10 Haig died aged 71 on 28 October 1996. The

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

presented his family with his All Blacks cap in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haig, Jimmy 1924 births 1996 deaths Canterbury rugby league team players Dual-code rugby internationals Marist-Western Suburbs players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand national rugby league team captains New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Otago rugby league team players Otago rugby union players People from Prestonpans Rugby league halfbacks Rugby union scrum-halves British emigrants to New Zealand South Island rugby league team players South Island rugby union players