Ronald Rutherford Elvidge (2 March 1923 – 30 March 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 second five-eighth and centre, Elvidge represented

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 ...

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 1946 to 1950. He played 19 matches for the All Blacks, of which seven were as captain, including nine internationals. He worked as an

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

and

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with ...

. After the death of

Wally Argus Walter Garland Argus (29 May 1921 – 21 October 2016) was a New Zealand rugby union player who played 10 matches including four tests for the national team. From 16 November 2012 until his death he was the oldest living All Black. Early life an ...

in 2016, Elvidge became the oldest living All Black. Elvidge died in

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 ...

on 30 March 2019, aged 96. Since 1946, his secondary school,

John McGlashan College John McGlashan College is a state integrated boarding and day school for boys, located in the suburb of Maori Hill in Dunedin, New Zealand. The school currently caters for students from years 7 to 13, including 120 boarders and up to 30 intern ...

, have participated in their annual inter-house competition for the Elvidge Cup, named in his honour.

References

1923 births 2019 deaths Rugby union players from Timaru People educated at John McGlashan College University of Otago alumni New Zealand obstetricians New Zealand gynaecologists New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Otago rugby union players Rugby union centres {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub