William "Pat" Albert Harris (30 June 1876 – 15 June 1950) 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 who represented the New Zealand national side in 1897. His position of choice was hooker. Harris did not play in any test matches as New Zealand did not play their first until 1903.

Career

Harris, more commonly known as "Pat", was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

but played for the Union (now known as Alhambra-Union due to a merge of clubs) club in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. He played 9 games for the Otago province between 1894 and 1896. The next year, in 1897 he appeared for the South Island in the inaugural North against South Island match. Based on this performance, Harris was chosen for the tour to Australia that year. He played in 8 out of the total 10 matches in Australia, including two out of the three of the unofficial tests 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 ...

. After the touring party had returned to New Zealand they played a final fixture against the

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 ...

province. The game was lost 11–10 and at the conclusion of the match there was an after-match gathering. Unfortunately for Harris he was found guilty of being intoxicated and using coarse language. He was thus banned from participating in any rugby union for two years. After his suspension had expired Harris did not reappear for his club or province again.

Personal and death

Harris may have worked as an engineer. Harris died on 15 June 1950 in Dunedin and was buried at Andersons Bay Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, William New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Rugby union hookers 1876 births 1950 deaths Burials at Andersons Bay Cemetery Rugby union players from Christchurch