Waate "Pat" Pene Potaka (c.1903 – 3 November 1967) 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 who represented 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 ...

in 1923 and the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

between 1922 and 1927. He was regarded as a utility back, as he played in every back position throughout his career. Although his birth name was Waate, Potaka was generally known as Pat. He was born in

Taihape Taihape is in the Rangitikei District of the North Island of New Zealand. It serves a large rural community. State Highway 1, which runs North to South through the centre of the North Island, passes through the town. History and culture Early ...

, but was educated at

Te Aute College Te Aute College (Māori language, Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams (missionary), Samuel Williams, an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary, and n ...

in the

Hawke's Bay region Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

Career

Provincial

He initially played as a halfback, but soon found himself playing as a

fly half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

and fullback. For the majority of his career Potaka played for the Rata club. He had stints at the Aotea and Ratana clubs towards the end of his career. He totalled 25 games for the

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

union.

All Blacks

After playing in the 1923 North against South Island match, Potaka gained his only two appearances for the All Blacks, both of which were against

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The first was played in Dunedin and the second in Christchurch where he came on as a substitute onto the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

and then scored a try. The next year in 1924 Potaka trialled to be selected for the team that would go on to be nicknamed The Invincibles. He was not selected.

Māori All Blacks

Potaka first played for the Māori All Blacks in 1922. He was selected for the 1926–27 tour of New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Europe and Canada. He played in 18 matches on the great tour. Potaka mainly played in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position on the tour, but at times was used at fullback and five-eighths. His total number of games for the Māori All Blacks was 50.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potaka, Waate New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players 1967 deaths New Zealand Māori people New Zealand Māori rugby union players Māori All Blacks players People educated at Te Aute College Rugby union players from Manawatū-Whanganui Rugby union centres