Birth name | George Nēpia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 25 April 1905 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Wairoa, Hawke's Bay Region, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 27 June 1986 81) | (aged||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 82 kg (12 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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George Nēpia (Māori : Hōri Nēpia; [1] 25 April 1905 – 27 August 1986) [2] was a New Zealand Māori rugby union and rugby league player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. [3] In 2004 he was selected as number 65 by the panel of the New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers television show. Nēpia was featured in a set of postage stamps from the New Zealand post office in 1990. [4] Historian Philippa Mein Smith described him as "New Zealand rugby's first superstar". [5]
Nēpia was born in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay with the birth certificate stating he was born in 1905, although a passport application also had his date of birth as 25 July 1904. [6] Nēpia later claimed to have been born in 1908, saying he had put his age up to be eligible for the All Black trials in 1924. [7] According to two rugby historians in a later news item however, Nepia's claim about his date of birth would have meant he played first class rugby at the age of 13, and as this was unlikely, the records would stay. [8]
After finishing primary school in Nūhaka, Nēpia's father sent fees for him to attend Te Aute College but without his father's permission, went instead to the nearby Maori Agricultural College where, according to Nēpia, the coach of the rugby said he would pay his fees if he was "material for the first XV". [7]
In 1926, Nēpia married Huinga Kōhere. [9] [10] Nēpia and his family settled on a Kohere's family farm at Rangitukia on the East Coast. [11] They had four children, three sons and a daughter. One of his sons, George, himself a promising rugby fullback died at the age of 22 while on army service in Malaya. [12] [7]
Nēpia was selected for the Hawkes Bay provincial rugby team in 1922. At that time Hawkes Bay had one of the strongest teams in New Zealand and held the Ranfurly Shield for twenty four successful defences before losing to Wairarapa in 1927. [13] Nēpia initially played on the wing but was later shifted to second-five eighth. [14]
In 1924 Nēpia was selected as a full-back for the All Blacks tour to the United Kingdom. Nēpia was one of the stars of the tour. He played in all 32 games – being the only player to do so – and scored 77 points. As the team did not lose any matches, they came to be known as The Invincibles. Nēpia played at fullback and before each game, led the team's performance of a haka that had been composed for the tour. [13]
Nēpia was omitted from the 1928 All Blacks tour of South Africa, probably on racial grounds. Nēpia returned to the All Blacks for tours to Australia in 1929 and against the British Lions in New Zealand in 1930. These were his last games for the All Blacks. [13]
In 1935 Nēpia went to England to play rugby league professionally being signed initially by Streatham and Mitcham Rugby League Club in London for £500, at the time the highest fee paid to any New Zealand Rugby League player. [13] [15] His family remained in New Zealand. Because rugby union was a strictly amateur game at the time, Nēpia was cast out from rugby union. Nēpia later transferred to Halifax. In 1937 he returned to New Zealand and played league for Manukau and played for the New Zealand Māori and New Zealand rugby league team. [14] During July and August 1937 Nēpia traveled to the South Island, representing both Hornby and Canterbury. [16]
Following his retirement from playing rugby Nēpia became a referee and worked as a farm manager in the Wairoa district. In 1975 his wife Huinga died. Nēpia lived out his final years with his son Winston in Rangitukia. He died in died at Ruatōria on 27 August 1986. [14] [17]
Timed to coincide with the 2011 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand playwright Hone Kouka wrote a one-person show, I, George Nēpia about Nēpia who was his great uncle. Kouka said the play evoked "vivid memories of the rugby legend" and was an opportunity at the time to showcase the best both of rugby and New Zealand theatre. Kouka spoke to the family before writing the play, and while they supported the project and trusted him, he recalled: "Opening night was scary, though. All the Nepias were in the audience. Thankfully they loved it". [18] The play won four Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards in 2011. [19]
Haka are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, haka are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Haka have been traditionally performed by both men and women for a variety of social functions within Māori culture. They are performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions, or funerals.
Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion, it also has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi, behind Ngāpuhi with an estimated 92,349 people according to the 2018 census. The traditional rohe or tribal area of Ngāti Porou extends from Pōtikirua and Lottin Point in the north to Te Toka-a-Taiau in the south. The Ngāti Porou iwi also comprises 58 hapū (sub-tribes) and 48 mārae.
Te Aute College is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams, an Anglican missionary, and nephew and son-in-law of Bishop William Williams. It has a strong Māori character.
"Ka Mate" is a Māori haka composed by Te Rauparaha, the historic leader of the iwi of Ngāti Toa of the North Island of New Zealand during the Musket Wars.
The following lists events that happened during 1972 in New Zealand.
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 is that the player has Māori whakapapa (genealogy). In the past this rule was not strictly applied; non–Māori players who looked Māori were often selected in the team. These included a few Pacific island players and a couple of African descent. Today all players have their ancestry verified before selection in the team.
Haka, traditional dances of the Māori people, have been used in sports in New Zealand and overseas. Haka are performed to challenge opponents before matches. The dance form has been adopted by the New Zealand national rugby union team, the "All Blacks", the Māori All Blacks, New Zealand women's national rugby union team, the "Black Ferns" and a number of other New Zealand national teams perform before their international matches; some non-New Zealand sports teams have also adopted haka.
Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit is a former New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2010, 2012 and 2013 Fast5 Netball World Series'. During the National Bank Cup era, she played for Western Flyers and Southern Sting. During the ANZ Championship era she played for Southern Steel and Central Pulse. During the ANZ Premiership era, she has played for Steel. She was a member of three premiership winning teams – the 2007 Southern Sting team and the 2017 and 2018 Southern Steel teams. She was also a member of the Steel team that won the 2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club tournament. In 2022, she was included on a list of the 25 best players to feature in netball leagues in New Zealand since 1998. Her younger sister, Te Paea Selby-Rickit, is also a New Zealand netball international. Her father, Hud Rickit, is a former New Zealand rugby union international.
Rangitukia is a small settlement 10 kilometres south of East Cape in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is near the mouth of the Waiapu River.
John Hoani Macdonald was a New Zealand sportsman. He competed in rowing at the 1930 Empire Games, winning gold in the coxed fours, and at the 1932 Summer Olympics, becoming one of the first two Māori Olympians. He played rugby union for New Zealand Māori from 1926 to 1935 and professional rugby league in England from 1935 to 1939. During World War II he served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force and played rugby union for New Zealand Services and England Services sides. He also played tennis for the Royal New Zealand Air Force team in armed forces matches at Wimbledon. He was inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
Hone Vivian Kouka is a New Zealand playwright. He has written 13 plays, which have been staged in New Zealand and worldwide including Canada, South Africa, New Caledonia and Britain. Kouka's plays have won multiple awards at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, the 'Oscars' of New Zealand theatre. Kouka has also worked as a theatre director and producer. In 2009, Kouka was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to contemporary Māori theatre.
William George Kini was a New Zealand heavyweight boxer and rugby union prop. He won a gold medal for boxing at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and placed second in the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
Te Paea Selby-Rickit is a New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2019 Netball World Cup. She has also represented New Zealand at the 2018 and the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Netball World Cup. She was a member of two premiership winning teams – the 2017 and 2018 Southern Steel teams. She was also a member of the Steel team that won the 2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club tournament. Since 2019 she has played for Mainland Tactix. Her older sister, Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit, is a former New Zealand netball international. Her father, Hud Rickit, is a former New Zealand rugby union international.
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Isaia Walker-Leawere is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Hawke's Bay in New Zealand's domestic National Provincial Championship competition.
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