Mark Trevor "Horse" Bourneville (born 30 June 1963) is a New Zealand former professional

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 ...

footballer. He represented both

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

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in international rugby league and is the only dual-international the two countries share.

Early years

After playing for the Mt Albert club from age 18, Bourneville was selected for

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 ...

that same year.Mark Bourneville
''Sporting Contacts'' He was involved in the 1984

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

grand final which saw Mt Albert defeat Otahuhu for the Fox Memorial. During his time in New Zealand, Bourneville was plagued by injuries and suffered two broken arms, knee ligament damage and a broken jaw.

Professional career

In a long professional career Bourneville played for

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

, Swinton and St. Helens in England and for Villeneuve and

AS Saint Estève As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voice ...

in France. He was originally a winger but moved to the second row during his time in Europe. After his retirement he moved back to New Zealand.

Representative career

Bourneville was named in the 1985

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 ...

squad that toured Great Britain and France and played in one test match. He would have been selected again in 1986 but was unavailable due to injury.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' In 1993 he represented

, playing for the French against the Kiwis in

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

. During the match he broke his arm and was forced to consider retiring.

Fight for life

Bourneville was a regular competitor in Dean Lonergan's Fight for Life charity

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

events and scored wins over

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 ...

footballers; Steve McDowall,

Va'aiga Tuigamala Va'aiga Lealuga Tuigamala Pulelua Fesola'i (4 September 1969 – 24 February 2022), sometimes known as Inga Tuigamala, was a professional rugby union and rugby league footballer. Born in Samoa, he represented New Zealand in rugby union, winnin ...

and Lindsay Raki.

Surf Lifesaver

Bourneville is now a surf lifesaver in

Piha Piha is a coastal settlement in West Auckland, on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially ...

and competes in the national championships at the top level.Control and endurance the key
''The Northern Advocate'', 19 February 2007 This role has seen him appear on

Piha Rescue ''Piha Rescue'' is a New Zealand reality series following the daily actions of the Piha Surf Life Saving Club lifeguards on the famous Piha surf beach. Piha is one of the many beaches located on the West Coast near Auckland. ''Piha Rescue ...

. The first Piha Big Wave Classic (Day of the Giants) was held at

Beach in April 2005 with 12 crews on the beach and Piha coming in second in the open men's race. These races, held annually are part of the national surf life saving championship surf boat series. In 2007 three crews came from Australia (Bronte, Jan Juc and Austinmer) to compete in these races. In 2014 Piha became the first club to win the trifecta at Piha - Mark HORSE Bourneville Swept 3 crews the Open Men's, Open Women's and Under 23 Men. The big wave classic will be held at Piha on 21 February 2015. In 2008 Piha crews comprising James Dallinger, Brad Mytton, Hayden Smith, Craig Knox, Matt Kirke, Mark Bourneville and Bruce O'Brien won the European Open Surf Boat Championships (also known as the World Surf Rowing Championships) at Biarritz, France. In 2012 Piha A crew won the Battle of the Ditch Surfboat Race (New Zealand versus Australia) and became the first crew to win the Australian Surf Life Saving men's open Australian Surf Rowers League title. In 2013 Piha became the first club to win 5 Golds Surf boat Medals at a New Zealand National Surf Life Saving Championships, Mark HORSE Bourneville Swept 3 crews and won 2 x double titles and a gold & silver with U19 (Open Men long and short courses, Under 23 Men long and short courses and under 19 Men long course). At the 2014 New Zealand Nationals Phia A became the first crew to win 8 New Zealand titles in 5 consecutive seasons. The 2014 Piha A crew was Paul Gerritsen, Chris Morris, Scott Lissington, Benjamin Richards, Ben Scott and sweep Mark Bourneville. The under 23 crew also scored a first - the first to win 5 New Zealand National titles in the under 23 division, the crew included Mark Bournevilles two twin sons Cedric & Ludovik Bourneville. The club also became the first to win 4 of the 6 divisional New Zealand Surf Boat Series titles - Men's Open, Women's Open, Under 23 Men's and Under 19 Women. The current Piha surf boats, sponsored by Burger Fuel and Trillion Trust, are named after previous Piha great boaties:- Tom Pearce, E D Wright, Buddy Lucas and Tiger O'Brien The Piha Boaties, during Mark 'HORSE' Bourneville's Boat captaincy, obtained the greatest decade in national titles;winning 25 titles over a 10-year period. Bourneville himself won 21 of the titles

Personal life

Bourneville's great grandfather and his wife are both French.

References

External links

Mark Bourneville
at the ''Saints Heritage Society''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourneville, Mark 1963 births Living people AS Saint Estève players Auckland rugby league team players France national rugby league team players Leigh Leopards players Mount Albert Lions players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand surf lifesavers Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Auckland Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers St Helens R.F.C. players Swinton Lions players Villeneuve Leopards players