Laurie O’Reilly (died 1998) 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 ...

coach, lawyer, lecturer and New Zealand's Commissioner for Children from 1994 to 1997. He was the first coach of the New Zealand women's national team, the Black Ferns.

Early career

O’Reilly was a family lawyer in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, and he served as New Zealand's Commissioner for Children from 1994 to 1997. He was also a law lecturer at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

, where he coached the men's team. His daughter

Lauren Lauren may be a given name or surname.The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentius. ...

is a former Black Fern.

Coaching career

In 1988, O’Reilly coached the Crusadettes, the University of Canterbury Women's team, and they toured the United States and Europe. A year later he selected the first women's team to represent New Zealand. O’Reilly had a hand in organising

RugbyFest 1990 RugbyFest 1990 (officially the "Women's World Rugby Festival") was a two-week festival of women's rugby, held in Christchurch, New Zealand between 19 August and 1 September 1990. The event has been inflated sometimes to the status of a mini-world ...

in Christchurch. It was a two-week women's rugby festival that featured national teams from the

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, the United States and

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. On 22 July 1989, the first official New Zealand women's team played the California Grizzlies, a touring side from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, at Lancaster Park in

. He coached the team to the inaugural

1991 Women's Rugby World Cup The 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup was the first Women's Rugby World Cup. The tournament was not approved by the International Rugby Board (IRB), yet it still went ahead despite the disapproval of the sports governing body. France confirmed their par ...

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. The Laurie O'Reilly Cup is named in his honour.

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 ...

and

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 ...

have competed for it annually since 1994.

Death

O’Reilly died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in 1998. He held a living funeral before his death; Wayne Smith, who was mentored by O’Reilly, spoke at the event.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Reilly, Laurie 1998 deaths Children's Ombudspersons in New Zealand New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand women's national rugby union team coaches