Bill Duncan as a player, administrator, coach and selector gave exemplary service to his club, Kaikorai, and the Otago union for the best part of a half century.

A hooker in the old 2-3-2 scrum formation, Duncan became an Otago representative player in 1914 and so was one of those whose playing days were heavily disrupted by a world war. But by the time of his retirement at the age of 32 in 1924 Duncan still amassed a creditable record.

Of the 57 matches he played in first class rugby 43 were for Otago.

Duncan's peak seasons were in 1920-21, when he gained national selection in each year after appearing in All Black trials and on two occasions for the South island.

Duncan, of nuggety build at 1.76m and around 82kg, made the tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1920 appearing in eight of 10 matches, including the three against New South Wales which in those years were the equivalent of tests.

His three official caps came in the 1921 test series against the touring Springboks. As well as playing for the All Blacks against South Africa Duncan captained Otago to an 11-3 loss to the tourists.

Duncan's involvement with Otago was revived in the 1940s. His son Bert played for the union in 1941 and Bill from 1946-50 served on the selection panel in one of the province's golden eras along with such illustrious personalities as Vic Cavanagh junior and Charlie Saxton.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

William Dow Duncan

BORN

Saturday, 11 June 1892 in Port Chalmers

DIED

Thursday, 14 December 1961

PHYSICAL

1.76m, 83kg

POSITION

Hooker

LAST SCHOOL

Unknown

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

Kaikorai

PROVINCE

Otago

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Saturday, 10 July 1920
v Auckland at Auckland
aged 28 years, 29 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 13 August 1921
v South Africa at Dunedin
aged 29 years, 63 days

LAST TEST

Saturday, 17 September 1921
v South Africa at Wellington
aged 29 years, 98 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

3 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK GAMES

8 (0 as Captain)

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

11 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

0pts

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

3pts (1t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

3pts (1t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

219

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

Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card

1920

 10 Jul vs Auckland at Auckland 11-11  

 14 Jul vs Manawatu-Horowhenua-Wanganui at Palmerston North 39-0  

 24 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 26-15  

 31 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 14-6  

 2 Aug vs Metropolitan Union at Sydney 20-11  

 7 Aug vs N.S.W. at Sydney 24-13  

 11 Aug vs Metropolitan Union at Sydney 79-5 (-) 

 18 Aug vs Wellington at Wellington 38-3  

1921

 13 Aug vs South Africa at Dunedin 13-5  

 27 Aug vs South Africa at Auckland 5-9  

 17 Sep vs South Africa at Wellington 0-0  

Points scored for the All Blacks

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs Metropolitan Union, 11 Aug 1920

1

-

-

-

3

Totals

1

0

0

0

3

Test Record by Nation

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

South Africa

3

1

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

Totals

3

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0