Patrick Joseph Bourke Crowley (20 October 1923 – 9 June 1981) 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 it ...

player. A flanker, Crowley represented

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

at a provincial level, and was a member of the

New Zealand national rugby union team 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 ...

, from 1949 to 1950.

Career

At the age of 19, Crowley made his first class debut for an army division team in 1943. He then went on to represent

from 1946 to 1950, making thirty-four appearances for the provincial side. In his first season with Auckland, he would also play for the North Island team in the annual

North vs South rugby union match The North vs South match, sometimes known as the Interisland match was a longstanding rugby union fixture in New Zealand between the North Island and South Island teams. The first match was played on 30 June 1897 at Wellington's Athletic Park, a ...

. Crowley played for the North Island every year afterward, apart from 1949. His performances saw him being called up for the national side, making his debut for the All Blacks during their tour of South Africa in 1949. The following year, he was part of the squad to face the British Lions in their tour of New Zealand and Australia. In an interview with ''The Scotsman'',

Angus Black Angus William "Gus" Black (6 May 1925 – 14 February 2018) was a Scottish international rugby union player, who played for and the Lions.Bath, Richard (ed.) (2007) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany''. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. . p. 118 Rug ...

was complimentary of the flanker, recalling: "Crowley was very good. I spent most of my day getting tackled hard. I was up in the air more often than I was on the ground. Crowley sorted us all out." The third test was to be Crowley's career defining performance as an All Black. Due to injuries, New Zealand had to play much of the match with six forwards, and Crowley ended having to do the work of two men instead of one. Crowley scored two tries against the Lions, the first was in the second test, and the second was when he was playing for Auckland. Crowley retired from rugby union later that year at the age of 26, having played sixty-four first class matches.

Personal life

Crowley was the grandfather of professional wrestler Cheree Crowley, better known by the ring names Evie and Dakota Kai.

References

1923 births 1981 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Whanganui {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub