Article of the day for January 1, 2018
The Article of the day for January 1, 2018 is Joe Warbrick.
Joe Warbrick (1 January 1862 – 30 August 1903) was a Māori rugby union player. The youngest person ever to play first-class rugby in New Zealand, he was selected as a 15-year-old to play fullback for Auckland Provincial Clubs. In 1884 he made the first New Zealand representative team, and appeared in seven of their eight matches on their tour of New South Wales. Four years later he conceived of, selected, and led the privately funded New Zealand Native football team, which eventually included several New Zealand-born and foreign-born Europeans. Although the team played 107 matches, including 74 in the British Isles, Warbrick took part in only 21 matches due to injury. The tour, the first from the Southern Hemisphere to visit Britain, remains the longest in rugby's history. In 2008 Warbrick and the Natives were inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. He effectively retired from rugby after returning from the tour, except for one appearance for Auckland in 1894, and went on to work as a farmer and tourist guide in the Bay of Plenty. In 1903 he was killed along with several others by an eruption of the Waimangu Geyser.
Joe Warbrick (1 January 1862 – 30 August 1903) was a Māori rugby union player. The youngest person ever to play first-class rugby in New Zealand, he was selected as a 15-year-old to play fullback for Auckland Provincial Clubs. In 1884 he made the first New Zealand representative team, and appeared in seven of their eight matches on their tour of New South Wales. Four years later he conceived of, selected, and led the privately funded New Zealand Native football team, which eventually included several New Zealand-born and foreign-born Europeans. Although the team played 107 matches, including 74 in the British Isles, Warbrick took part in only 21 matches due to injury. The tour, the first from the Southern Hemisphere to visit Britain, remains the longest in rugby's history. In 2008 Warbrick and the Natives were inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. He effectively retired from rugby after returning from the tour, except for one appearance for Auckland in 1894, and went on to work as a farmer and tourist guide in the Bay of Plenty. In 1903 he was killed along with several others by an eruption of the Waimangu Geyser.
