James Duncan (12 November 1869 – 19 October 1953) 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 ...

footballer, coach and referee. He captained New Zealand in its first test, and coached New Zealand in its first home test. Duncan was born 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 ...

, New Zealand. He appeared for

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

, before being selected to play 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 ...

in 1897. He captained New Zealand for the first time against

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 1901. He captained New Zealand in its first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

, 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 ...

, in 1903. That was also his last game for New Zealand. Duncan then moved to coaching, coaching New Zealand in its first home 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. In 1905, he was selected to coach the New Zealand team to tour the Northern Hemisphere. Duncan's appointment as coach was unpopular, and most of the coaching ended up being done by team members Billy Stead and

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 ...

instead. In 1908 James Duncan refereed a Test between New Zealand and the Anglo-Welsh. Duncan is credited with naming the position "five-eight"; as there was already positions half-back and three-quarters, he came up with the name according to the fraction between them.

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* 1869 births 1953 deaths New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Dunedin Rugby union wing-forwards {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1860s-stub

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