William Fergus McCormick (24 April 1939 – 10 April 2018) was a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

footballer who played for the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 198 ...

and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

. McCormick first played representative rugby for Canterbury in 1958 when he played

first five-eighth In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

against

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

. The following year he played twelve matches for Canterbury; the first of the season a 20–14 victory over the touring British Lions. As well as playing regularly for the South Island, McCormick continued playing for Canterbury where he eventually switched to fullback. In 1965 he was selected for his first Test for the New Zealand national side (the All Blacks), which was a 20–3 victory over

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. He was next selected for the All Blacks in 1967 for their tour of Canada, the British Isles and France. He was a regular starter for the All Blacks and toured with them to South Africa in 1970. He was dropped for the fourth Test of the South Africa tour and made his final appearance for the All Blacks against the British Lions in 1971. McCormick continued to play for Canterbury, however. When he retired, following the 1975 season, he had scored a record total of 1297 points for Canterbury. He scored a total of 2065 points in 310 first class matches. McCormick died in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

from throat cancer on 10 April 2018.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Fergie 1939 births 2018 deaths Rugby union players from Ashburton, New Zealand People educated at Papanui High School People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Canterbury rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Deaths from cancer in New Zealand Deaths from throat cancer