Nathaniel Arthur "Ranji" Wilson (18 May 1886 – 11 August 1953) was an early

All Black 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 ...

, rugby football player for New Zealand. He was born in Christchurch of English/West Indian parentage. Wilson was chosen for the All Blacks for matches against the touring Anglo-Welsh in 1908, versus Australia in 1910, 1913 and again in 1914. In an unusual case, he was charged with assault in 1910 for actions during match, but was found not guilty. Unfortunately for his brother Billy Wilson he said that he knew who threw the punch and when the Wellington Rugby Union asked him to say who it was he refused. Both brothers along with a third (Joseph) were playing in the same match and there was considerable confusion over which of the brothers may have thrown the punch. They then banned Billy for life from playing rugby union. He switched to rugby league and played many times 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 ...

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was one of the stars of the New Zealand Services team which won the Kings Cup against other Dominion countries in 1918–19, and would have toured South Africa with the New Zealand Army team in 1919 had he not been classed as "coloured"."Race and South African rugby"
FJG Van Der Merwe, 2010 Wilson was later one of the team of seven selectors who picked the 1924-5 "Invincibles" team that toured Great Britain, France and Canada undefeated. He died on 11 August 1953 in

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt () is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropoli ...

References

1886 births 1953 deaths 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Christchurch Rugby union flankers {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1880s-stub