Charles Percy Erceg (28 November 1928 – 26 May 2019) 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 ...

player. A wing three-quarter, Erceg represented North Auckland and at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, 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 ...

, from 1951 to 1952. He played nine matches for the All Blacks including four internationals. Affiliating to

Ngāti Kurī Ngāti Kurī is a Māori people, Māori iwi from Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kurī trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Pōhurihanga, the ca ...

, Erceg represented New Zealand Māori from 1950 to 1952, and in 1951 he was awarded the Tom French Cup as the Māori player of the year. He later served as a national Māori selector from 1972 to 1983, was the manager of the New Zealand Māori side that toured Australia and the Pacific Islands in 1979 and coach of the 1982 team that toured Wales. Erceg died in

Kaitaia Kaitaia () is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupōuri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on State Highway 1. Ahipara Bay, the southern end of Te Oneroa-a- ...

on 26 May 2019.

References

1928 births 2019 deaths Ngāti Kurī people Rugby union players from the Northland Region People educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players Northland rugby union players Auckland rugby union players Māori All Blacks players Rugby union wings New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand sports executives and administrators New Zealand people of Croatian descent {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1920s-stub