William Charles Francis (4 February 1894 – 28 November 1981) was a

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 ...

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 hooker, Francis represented

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

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 ...

, in 1913 and 1914. He played 12 matches for the

including seven internationals. Following the death of

Richard Fogarty Richard Fogarty (12 December 1891 – 9 September 1980) was New Zealand rugby union player. He was a member of the All Blacks in 1914, playing in the loose forward and hooker positions. Early life Born in the Central Otago gold-mining sett ...

in 1980, Francis held the distinction of being the oldest living All Black.

References

1894 births 1981 deaths Rugby union players from New Plymouth New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Wellington rugby union players Rugby union hookers {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1890s-stub