Herbert Theodore Lilburne (16 March 1908 – 12 June 1976) was a New Zealand dual-code international

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 professional

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 who played in the 1920s and 1930s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed rugby union in the 1940s.

Background

Lilburne was born in

Burnham, New Zealand Burnham, also known as Burnham Camp, is the largest army base in New Zealand's South Island. It is located 28 kilometres south of Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains in the Selwyn District, close to the town of Dunsandel. Burnham was named ...

Rugby union and rugby league career

Herb Lilburne played representative level rugby union (RU) for

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 ...

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 ...

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

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

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 ...

, and at club level for Marist Albion RFC, as a Fullback,

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, or

Fly-half 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� ...

. Lilburne played for

in: * 1928 against South Africa (2 tests and 12 other matches). He also played for New Zealand in a game against Victoria, at Melbourne on the way home, won by 58 points to 9. * 1929 against Australia (3 tests and 5 other matches). Following the injuries to the New Zealand captain Cliff Porter, and vice-captain

Bill Dalley William Charles Dalley (18 November 1901 – 9 February 1989) was a New Zealand rugby union player. Starting out as a Rugby union positions#Utility player, utility back, Dalley made his debut at a provincial level for in 1921. He became a spec ...

, Herb Lilburne was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for the first test and at 21-years and 112-days he is the youngest New Zealand test captain to date. New Zealand lost that match 9 points to 8 but he captained New Zealand in two further games, against New South Wales (a 22–9 win) and an Australian XV (won 25–4). Cliff Porter took over again as captain in the second and third test matches which were both lost, 9-17 and 13–15. * 1930 against the British Lions during their New Zealand tour (2 tests). He also played for New Zealand in a prior match against North Otago, coming on as a reserve to replace Don Oliver. * 1931 against Australia, won by 20 points to 13 at Auckland. * 1932 against Australia (1 test and 6 other matches). He also played for New Zealand in a pre-tour match against

that was lost by 23 points to 36. * 1934 against Australia (1 test and 4 other matches). He was selected by the editors of the 1935 Rugby Almanac of New Zealand as one of their 5 players of the year in 1934. Lilburne was not selected for the 1935 tour of Britain and he switched to rugby league. He played representative level rugby league for

and

as a er, Lilburne won a cap for

(RL) in the 8–29 defeat by Australia at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 19 ...

on 2 October 1935. He lived his later years in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

and after having been reinstated from rugby league in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

amnesty, Lilburne coached club level rugby union for the Zingari-Richmond Rugby Club.

References

External links

Marist Albion Canterbury Honours
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilburne, Herb 1908 births 1976 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen Canterbury rugby union players 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 coaches New Zealand rugby union players North Island rugby union players People from North Canterbury Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league wingers Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Christchurch South Island rugby union players Wellington rugby league team players Wellington rugby union players