Mick Cain was one of the first in a breed who have brought distinction to All Black selections through the years. He was a shining example of the late developer.

He did not play rugby until he was aged 21 when he went on as a replacement for an injured Clifton club player in Taranaki.

Strongly built and with the natural ruggedness of a rural worker, Cain soon displayed a penchant for the hooker position in the old 2-3-2 scrum formation and by the time he was 23 in 1908 had gained a place in the Taranaki representative team.

In 1913 when he was 28 Cain gained his All Black jersey. He made his debut in the warmup match against Wellington prior to touring USA.

Later that year he went on the tour of North America and then in 1914 he was again a tourist, this time to Australia.

He gained a test cap in the 51-3 win over All America and appeared in all three tests against Australia in 1914. On both tours Cain demonstrated extraordinary stamina. He missed only two of the 16 matches played in North America and only two of the 11 matches in Australia.

Cain in 1913 was also in the Taranaki side which took the Ranfurly Shield from Auckland and played a leading role in the defences of 1914.

World War I then intervened but even though Cain was in his late 20s at the outbreak of hostilities it brought only a temporary halt to his career.

At the age of 34 he was in the New Zealand Services side which in 1919 played in both Britain and South Africa.

Returning home, Cain played again for Taranaki in 1920-21, for the North Island in 1920 and was chosen for his second tour of Australia in 1920, only to withdraw.

However, there was still a major occasion left in which Cain made an appropriate farewell. Aged 36, he was in the Taranaki side which in 1921 achieved a scoreless draw with the Springboks.

Despite his late start and despite losing so many years to war service Cain finished with 104 first class games, a remarkable tally for his generation.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

Michael Joseph Cain

BORN

Tuesday, 7 July 1885 in Waitara

DIED

Monday, 27 August 1951 in New Plymouth

POSITION

Hooker

LAST SCHOOL

Unknown

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

Clifton

PROVINCE

Taranaki

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Wednesday, 10 September 1913
v Wellington at Wellington
aged 28 years, 65 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 15 November 1913
v USA at Berkeley
aged 28 years, 131 days

LAST TEST

Saturday, 15 August 1914
v Australia at Sydney
aged 29 years, 39 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

4 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK GAMES

20 (0 as Captain)

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

24 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

0pts

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

17pts (5t, 1c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

17pts (5t, 1c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

187

The All Black Games that Cain played.
(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced

Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card

1913

 10 Sep vs Wellington at Wellington 19-18  

 8 Oct vs University of California at Berkeley 31-0  

 11 Oct vs Barbarians Club at San Francisco 30-0  

 15 Oct vs Stanford University at Palo Alto 54-0  

 18 Oct vs Stanford University at Palo Alto 56-0  

 22 Oct vs University of Santa Clara at Santa Clara 42-0  

 25 Oct vs University of California at Berkeley 38-3  

 29 Oct vs University of Nevada at Reno 55-0  

 5 Nov vs St Mary's College at San Francisco 26-0  

 8 Nov vs University of Southern California at Los Angeles 40-0  

 12 Nov vs University of Santa Clara at Santa Clara 33-0  

 15 Nov vs USA at Berkeley 51-3  

 19 Nov vs Victoria (B.C.) at Victoria 23-0  

 22 Nov vs Victoria (B.C.) at Victoria 35-0  

 24 Nov vs Vancouver at Vancouver 44-0  

1914

 1 Jul vs Wellington at Wellington 14-19  

 11 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 27-6  

 18 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 5-0  

 22 Jul vs New England at Armidale 35-6  

 25 Jul vs Queensland at Brisbane 26-5  

 29 Jul vs Queensland at Brisbane 19-0  

 1 Aug vs Australia at Brisbane 17-0  

 8 Aug vs N.S.W. at Sydney 25-10  

 15 Aug vs Australia at Sydney 22-7  

Points scored for the All Blacks

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs University of California, 25 Oct 1913

1

-

-

-

3

vs University of Nevada, 29 Oct 1913

1

-

-

-

3

vs Victoria (B.C.), 19 Nov 1913

1

-

-

-

3

vs Victoria (B.C.), 22 Nov 1913

-

1

-

-

2

vs Wellington, 1 Jul 1914

1

-

-

-

3

vs N.S.W., 11 Jul 1914

1

-

-

-

3

Totals

5

1

0

0

17

Test Record by Nation

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

Australia

3

3

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

USA

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Totals

4

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

0