Eric L. Watkins (born 18 March 1880 - 14 August 1949) was a New Zealand

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

er who represented

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in both

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 ...

Early years

Watkins attended Wellington College and was a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

by profession. This job often took him around the country.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996.

Rugby Football

Watkins started playing

for the Wellington College Old Boys' Club. He represented

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 ...

from 1900 to 1906 and the North Island in 1904 and 1906. Watkins was part of the Wellington sides that both won the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge ...

in 1904 and lost it in 1905. In 1907, when his work took him north to

Raetihi Raetihi, a small town in the centre of New Zealand's North Island, is located at the junction of New Zealand state highway network, State Highways 4 and 49 in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. It lies in a valley between Tongariro National Park, ...

, Watkins played in the local competition and represented

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

. Watkins was selected for 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 ...

in 1905 for a test match 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 ...

. The match occurred while "The Originals" were in transit to Great Britain and thus unavailable for selection but was still given test match status by the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the Sports governing body, 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 b ...

Rugby League

In 1907 Watkins joined the professional All Blacks in their tour of Great Britain and Australia. Like all other members of the touring party, Watkins received a life ban from the

. Watkins suffered a serious injury while training and did not play in Britain. While in Australia Watkins played in one test match. Like five other members of the touring party Watkins is buried at Karori Cemetery.Relatives and Teams to remember Original All Golds
''NZRL Press Release'', 10 October 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Eric 1880 births 1948 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Burials at Karori Cemetery Dual-code rugby internationals New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand surveyors North Island rugby union players People educated at Wellington College, Wellington Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from the Canterbury Region Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from the Canterbury Region Sportspeople from Akaroa Wellington rugby union players