Gus Hart
Hart in 1924 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Augustine Henry Hart | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 March 1898 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 1 February 1965 (aged 66) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Marist Brothers' School (Vermont Street, Auckland) Sacred Heart College New Plymouth Technical College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Augustine Henry Hart (27 March 1898 – 1 February 1965)[1][2] was a New Zealand rugby union player who represented the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby union team, between 1924 and 1925. His position of choice was wing three-quarter.
Early life
Born in Auckland in 1898, Hart was first educated at the Marist Brothers' School on Vermont Street, Auckland (which was renovated and renamed: St. Columba Centre),[3][4] he then moved to Sacred Heart College.[5] He finished his education further down the country at New Plymouth Technical College where he was a member of the 1st XV between 1916 and 1917.[6]
Career and later life
After finishing school, Hart joined the Tukapa club.
In 1921, at the age of 24, Hart made his debut for the Taranaki province. He played just 2 matches in his rookie season and did not play at all in 1922, however in 1923 he won 6 caps for the union.[7]
In his early playing days in Auckland Hart played as a five-eighth, but upon transferring to Taranaki, considering his height and weight along with his remarkable speed it was decided he would play as a wing three-quarter.[6][7]
After playing exceptionally well in the trials Hart was to be selected for the 1924–25 "invincibles" tour of the Northern Hemisphere.[6][7] In the 3 matches played before leaving in Australia and New Zealand Hart scored three tries from 3 matches.[7]
From 14 matches on the tour Hart scored 20 tries. This included scoring 4 tries in matches against Cheshire, Yorkshire and Cumberland respectively.[6] He also scored 3 tries against Durham.[7]
Although he played 16 games for the All Blacks his only test cap was against Ireland, as others in the squad were preferred over Hart.[6] The test was won 6-0.[7] Unfortunately a leg injury ended Hart's career early.[6][7] In a career of just 29 first-class matches, 17 of those were played for the All Blacks.
He died in Auckland in 1965.
References
- ^ "the 1,109 New Zealand ALL BLACKS from 1884 - GAGE to MYNOTT :: FamilyTreeCircles.com Genealogy". www.familytreecircles.com. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "PECK of Taita - Family Tree". ngairedith.tribalpages.com. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "Buildings from the Past » Champagnat Marists". www.maristbrothers.org.nz. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "Home". www.saintcolumba.org.nz. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ "Sport Honours". www.sacredheart.school.nz. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f Chester, Rod; McMillan, Neville; Palenski, Ron (1987). The Encyclopedia of New Zealand Rugby. Auckland, New Zealand: Moa Publications. p. 76. ISBN 0-908570-16-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Stats | allblacks.com". stats.allblacks.com. Retrieved 13 April 2016.