Charles Percy Erceg (28 November 1928 – 26 May 2019) 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 ...

player. A wing three-quarter, Erceg represented

North Auckland The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā ...

and at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the

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 ...

, from 1951 to 1952. He played nine matches for the All Blacks including four internationals. Affiliating to

Ngāti Kurī Ngāti Kurī is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kurī trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Pōhurihanga, the captain of the waka (canoe) Kurahau ...

, Erceg represented New Zealand Māori from 1950 to 1952, and in 1951 he was awarded the

Tom French Cup In rugby union, the Tom French Cup is an honour awarded by New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to the Tom French Memorial Māori player of the year. The cup has been awarded annually since 1949, when it was donated to the New Zealand Māori coach To ...

as the Māori player of the year. He later served as a national Māori selector from 1972 to 1983, was the manager of the New Zealand Māori side that toured Australia and the Pacific Islands in 1979 and coach of the 1982 team that toured Wales. Erceg died in

Kaitaia Kaitaia ( mi, Kaitāia) is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1. Ahipara ...

on 26 May 2019.

References

1928 births 2019 deaths Ngāti Kurī people People from the Northland Region People educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Northland rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Māori All Blacks players Rugby union wings New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand sports executives and administrators New Zealand people of Croatian descent {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub