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Billy Stead, born John William Stead, (18 September 1877 – 21 July 1958) was a
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
player born in
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
who played for New Zealand, the
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
, on their 1905–06 tour. Stead also played provincially for Southland, and later coached various teams, including Southland and the New Zealand Māori. A bootmaker by trade, he also co-authored The ''Complete Rugby Footballer'' with
Dave Gallaher David Gallaher (30October 1873 – 4October 1917) was an Irish-born New Zealand rugby union footballer best remembered as the captain of the " Original All Blacks"—the 1905–06 New Zealand national team, the first representative New Zealan ...
, and was a columnist for the ''Southland Times'', and ''New Zealand Truth''.


Early rugby career

Billy Stead was born in
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
on 18 September 1877, and one of his earliest exposures to rugby was watching
Joe Warbrick Joseph Astbury Warbrick (1 January 1862 – 30 August 1903) was a Māori rugby union player who represented New Zealand on their 1884 tour to Australia and later captained the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team that embarked on a ...
with his New Zealand Native football team play against Southland. Neither Stead's primary nor secondary school (
Southland Boys' High School Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982. History SBHS was founded in 1881, ...
) did much to encourage students to play rugby, but he did manage to get a place in the school team after debuting as a late injury replacement. He left school aged 16 to enter his trade as a
bootmaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or ''cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cent ...
, and along with some friends tried to join the local Pirates' Rugby Club, but the club could not accommodate the interest of all those that wanted to join, and so Stead was told to instead join Star Rugby Club. After joining the club he played for their second and third teams for a couple of years before earning promotion to their senior side in 1896. He played at First five-eighths for the side, and in his first season earned selected for his province.


Provincial and international selection

Stead first played representative rugby for Southland in 1896. He was only 18 at the time, and continued to play for the province until 1908; eventually racking up 52 matches for the side. After representing the
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
in 1903, he was selected for the All Blacks that year. Although he did tour with the team to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, he did not play in a Test match until the following year. In his first Test against
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
in 1904, Stead captained the side. He was again selected for the All Blacks the following year for their northern hemisphere tour. Although he did not participate in the preliminary tour of Australia due to work commitments, Stead did play against
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
and then
Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
for the All Blacks. Dave Gallaher was named as the tour captain, with Stead as vice-captain. On the voyage to Britain, both players resigned as captain and vice-captain respectively. They had both been appointed by the
New Zealand Rugby Football Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...
(NZRFU), but believed that the players should have a say in the choice of captain. Although the teams' manager refused to accept the resignations, the team still took a vote; going 17 to 12 in favour of endorsing the NZRFU's selections The tour was highly successful for Stead as he established himself as one of New Zealand's greatest ever first-five-eighths. Stead participated in 29 of the Originals' matches, and although he only scored 11 tries for the team, his ability to set up tries for other players was vital. Jimmy Hunter, who scored 44 tries on tour, said to him at the Originals' 50-year reunion, "Without you I was nothing". Stead was considered a master tactician, and him missing the teams'
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
Test was considered a major factor in their only loss. Before the New Zealand squad left Britain, English publisher Henry Leach asked Stead and Gallaher to author a book on rugby tactics and play. They finished the task in under a fortnight and were each paid £50. Entitled ''The Complete Rugby Footballer'', the book was 322 pages long and included chapters on tactics and play, as well as a summary of rugby's history in New Zealand including the 1905 tour. It was mainly authored by Stead, a bootmaker, with Gallaher contributing most of the diagrams. Gallaher almost certainly made some contributions to the text, including sections on Auckland club rugby, and on forward play. The book showed the All Blacks' tactics and planning to be superior to others of the time, and according to Matt Elliott is "marvellously astute"; it received universal acclaim on its publication. According to a 2011 assessment by
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's Graham Jenkins, it "remains one of the most influential books produced in the realms of rugby literature". After the Originals' tour, Stead's next All Blacks' match was not until 1908 when he captained them twice against the
Anglo-Welsh Welsh writing in English, (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers. The term 'Anglo-Welsh' replaced an earlier attempt to define this category of writing as 'Anglo- ...
. Following the 1908 season, Stead went into semi-retirement, but was persuaded to play for the New Zealand Māori. The Māori team was formed after a proposal by Ned Parata to the NZRFU, and a tour to New South Wales was organised for 1910. Stead was named vice-captain for the tour, and played in the first ever Māori match, against the
Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...
sub union on 21 May 1910. The side then played a match against
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, which they lost, before departing for Australia. He played in 13 of the sides matches on tour, including their 13–8 win against
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, which was the first Māori victory over significant opposition. The tour generated a modest profit which was donated to a girls' school, and provided the foundation for the continued existence of the side.


In retirement

After his retirement, Stead continued to be involved in rugby as an administrator and coach. In 1921 he coached the All Blacks in two of their Tests against
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. Stead also coached the New Zealand Māori, as well as writing for the ''Southland Times'' and ''New Zealand Truth''.


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stead, Billy 1877 births 1958 deaths Burials at Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill New Zealand international rugby union players People educated at Southland Boys' High School New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Māori All Blacks players Ngāi Tahu people Rugby union players from Invercargill Southland rugby union players