Duncan McGregor (16 July 188111 March 1947), was a New Zealand

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. He was a member of the legendary 1905 Original All Blacks and later converted to rugby league when he went on the 1907 New Zealand league tour of Britain and Australia. He stayed in Britain following the 1907–08 tour, and opened a sport store as well as playing for Merthyr Tydfil RLFC. He returned to New Zealand after five years and continued to be involved in rugby league as an administrator and official.

Early life

Duncan McGregor was the son of Alexander McGregor and his wife Barbara McGregor, née Gudex. Duncan was born on 16 July 1881 at Kaiapoi. His father Alexander McGregor was a railway worker, working for the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway infrastruc ...

.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. HIs father, Alexander McGregor arrived in New Zealand on ame of shipin

ear In vertebrates, an ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In humans, the ear is described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear co ...

His mother, Barbara Gudex, along with her brother MIchael Gudex left Kindenheim, Germany in 1866 and arrived at Lyttelton on the "Mermaid", on 5 January 1867.

Rugby union

McGregor made his provincial rugby union début playing for

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 ...

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 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 transferred to

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 ...

in 1904 due to his employment taking him to

Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...

, there he joined the Petone Rugby Club and was later one of six players from the club that made the 1907-08 tour. 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. While on tour he scored four times in one match in a Test match against the English and played in the famous '' Match of the Century'' against

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 ...

.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. In all first class rugby union McGregor scored 66 tries in just 59 games.

Rugby league

In 1907 McGregor joined the professional New Zealand team that toured Great Britain and Australia; this team played the sport now known as rugby league. 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.Petone Rugby played big part in 'All Golds'
''Petone Rugby Club'', Retrieved 14 August 2009 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 Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

and sign with the

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

club. 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 A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

and a national selector. In 1920 he was made a life member of the

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

. He died 11 March 1947 in

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

, and is buried at Timaru Cemetery, Timaru.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGregor, Duncan 1881 births 1947 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Canterbury rugby union players Dual-code rugby internationals Merthyr Tydfil RLFC players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people in rail transport New Zealand rugby league administrators New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby league referees New Zealand rugby union players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from the Canterbury Region Rugby league wingers Rugby union centres Rugby union players from the Canterbury Region Rugby union wings South Island rugby union players Sportspeople from Kaiapoi Wellington rugby union players