Duncan McGregor

Duncan McGregor

Personal information
Born	16 July 1881(1881-07-16) Kaiapoi, New Zealand
Died	11 March 1947(1947-03-11) (aged 65) Timaru, New Zealand
Playing information
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	72 kg (11 st 5 lb)
Rugby union
Position	Wing, Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1900–1903	Canterbury
1904–1906	Wellington
	Total	0	0	0	0	0
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1903–1905	New Zealand	4	6	0	0	18
Rugby league
Position	Wing, Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1908–1912	Merthyr Tydfil
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1907–1908	New Zealand	1	0	0	0	0

Duncan McGregor (born 16 July 1881 in Kaiapoi, New Zealand), was a New Zealand rugby union footballer. He was a member of the legendary 1905 Original All Blacks and went on the 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.

Early life

McGregor was a railway worker, working for the New Zealand Railways Department.^[1]

Rugby Football

McGregor made his provincial rugby union debut playing for Canterbury in 1900 when he was just 19. In 1902 he had a stellar season, scoring 17 tries for Canterbury and 2 for South Island in just 10 first class matches. McGregor was subsequently selected for the 1903 New Zealand rugby union tour of Australia and won his first Test cap for New Zealand on 15 August 1903 against Australia.

He transferred to Wellington in 1904 due to his employment taking him to Petone, there he joined the Petone Rugby Club and was later one of six players from the club that made the 1907-08 tour.^[2] McGregor represented Wellington and the North Island and retained his place in the All Blacks in 1904 and in 1905 was selected for the All Blacks tour of Great Britain. While on tour, the British press dubbed him the "Flying Scotsman" in recognition of his speed.^[1] While on tour he scored four times in one match in a Test match against the English.^[3]

In all first class rugby union McGregor scored 66 tries in just 59 games.

Rugby League

In 1907 McGregor joined the professional All Blacks in their tour of Great Britain and Australia. He was a strong supporter of the tour from the outset and was one of the tours selectors, served on the tours Management committee and had a role in coaching the backs.^[1][2] However, while on tour, he could not consistently make the first team and played in many of the mid-week games. McGregor only ended up playing in one of the eight test matches on tour.

He opted not to return to New Zealand, instead staying behind in Great Britain to open a sports store in Gloucestershire and sign with the Merthyr Tydfil club.^[1] In 1912 he suffered an ankle injury and retired from the game, opting to return to New Zealand.

Later years

After returning to New Zealand McGregor stayed involved with rugby league, becoming a referee and a national selector. In 1920 he was made a life member of the New Zealand Rugby League.

He died in 1947 in Timaru.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} John Haynes From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers, Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. ISBN 0473038641
2. ^ ^{a b} Petone Rugby played big part in 'All Golds' Petone Rugby Club, Accessed 14 August 2009
3. ^ Coffey, John. Canterbury XIII, Christchurch, 1987.

External links

• Duncan McGregor at AllBlacks.com

Persondata
Name	Macgregor, Duncan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 July 1881
Place of birth	Kaiapoi
Date of death	11 March 1947
Place of death	Timaru