Joe Warbrick
Encyclopedia
Joe Warbrick born Joseph Astbury Warbrick, was a Maori New Zealand
rugby union
player born in Rotorua
who played for the All Blacks
in their 1884 tour to Australia, and the 1888–1889 New Zealand Native football team.
Warbrick first played for the Ponsonby Club in Auckland
in 1877 as a 15 year old. He was then picked for the Auckland team (the youngest player in New Zealand to play first grade rugby). In 1884 he was picked for the first ever New Zealand team, and played a total of seven games, scoring twelve points.
In 1888 he was one of the major organisers of the privately funded New Zealand Native team that toured Australia, New Zealand and the British Isles. Although the team played 107 matches Warbrick did not play much due to injury. After the tour he virtually retired from all football. In 2008, Warbrick and the 1888–1889 New Zealand Natives were inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame
.
Warbrick was killed by an eruption of the Waimangu Geyser
in 1903.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player born in Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
who played for the All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
in their 1884 tour to Australia, and the 1888–1889 New Zealand Native football team.
Warbrick first played for the Ponsonby Club in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
in 1877 as a 15 year old. He was then picked for the Auckland team (the youngest player in New Zealand to play first grade rugby). In 1884 he was picked for the first ever New Zealand team, and played a total of seven games, scoring twelve points.
In 1888 he was one of the major organisers of the privately funded New Zealand Native team that toured Australia, New Zealand and the British Isles. Although the team played 107 matches Warbrick did not play much due to injury. After the tour he virtually retired from all football. In 2008, Warbrick and the 1888–1889 New Zealand Natives were inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame
IRB Hall of Fame
The IRB Hall of Fame is a hall of fame operated by the International Rugby Board that recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The IRB Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other individuals...
.
Warbrick was killed by an eruption of the Waimangu Geyser
Waimangu Geyser
The Waimangu Geyser, located near Rotorua in New Zealand, was the most powerful geyser in the world. Its workings were apparently created by the great 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption, which opened a 14km-long fissure down the mountain and through Lake Rotomahana.The geyser was first seen erupting in...
in 1903.