All Black rugby in more than 100 years has never known a statistical feat quite like that of George Nepia on the 1924-25 tour of Britain, France and Canada by the team which came to be known as the "Invincibles".

The team played 30 matches in Europe and won the lot. And at fullback in every one of those games was Nepia, then aged only 19. It was a staggering feat of endurance and because of it Nepia has always become the face of the "Invincibles" even though among his team-mates were other legendary players, such as the midfield back Bert Cooke, the five eighths Mark Nicholls and forward Maurice Brownlie.

Curiously, following his triumphant tour and the fact he was still so young, Nepia had only a limited involvement with All Black sides in subsequent years. He should also have toured South Africa in 1928, but because he was of Maori ancestry he and another fine player, halfback Jimmy Mill, were declared ineligible because of South Africa's race prejudices.

Nepia hailed from the rural east coast of the North Island but was educated near Hastings at Maori Agricultural College, a Mormon school where one of the American elders taught him how to punt. He was then discovered by the great Hawke's Bay coach of the 1920s, Norman McKenzie, and in 1922 introduced to his champion provincial sides.

At first he played as a first five eighths, switching only to fullback in 1924 on the suggestion of Luxford Peeti, the father of his friend and another teenage prodigy, Lui Paewai. He then had a meteoric rise from the Bay side, into the national trials and onto the All Black touring side, where on the "Invincibles" tour he was to enjoy such phenomenal success.

Besides his natural talent, Nepia had a sturdy physique and for his era was big for a back at 1.75m and 82kg, which meant he was not much smaller than some of his forward contemporaries. He could kick powerfully, defend fiercely, was a master of the smother tackle and was fearless retrieving the ball from the feet of onrushing forwards.

Goalkicking was probably the only area of his game which was not in the ultimate class. In his 30 tour matches in 1924-25 he kicked 31 conversions and four penalties but generally was the backup kicker to Nicholls. In test rugby, indeed, Nepia scored just five points, a conversion and a penalty, against Australia in Sydney in 1929.

The awe with which Nepia was held in Britain was reflected in an eloquent tribute from a leading British journalist who wrote: "it is not for me a question of whether Nepia was the best fullback in history. It is a question of which of the others is fit to loose the laces of his Cotton Oxford boots."

Yet in later years Nepia made only sporadic appearances for the All Blacks, apart from playing the full series against the touring British Isles side in 1930. One reason was, of course, being ruled out of the 1928 tour of South Africa. Another was the time he had to put into farming in the remote East Coast. He even missed the 1926-27 Maori tour of Britain, though this may resulted from a misunderstanding over his availability. During the 1929 tour of Australia, too, he suffered a back injury and was forced to leave the field in the first test.

In 1935, by now a veteran, he was recalled to the trials for the tour of the British Isles. But during the Depression years of the early 1930s he had played little top class rugby and his rustiness showed. However, in 1935 he captained the New Zealand Maori team on a tour of Australia.

Having suffered grievous financial hardship in the Great Depression, Nepia decided to secure his family's future by accepting an offer in the mid 30s to play league in Britain. He returned to New Zealand in 1937 and that year appeared in a league international for the Kiwis, a 16-15 win over Australia.

After World War II Nepia was reinstated to rugby and in 1947 played twice for East Coast representative matches and then in 1950, when well into his 40s, he played a festival match for the Olympians club. Through the 1950s he continued in the game as a referee.

Despite his many absences and frequent unavailabilities Nepia still finished with 129 first class matches, of which 46 were for the All Blacks, 24 in Maori matches and 43 at provincial level for Hawke's Bay and East Coast.

His origins in a remote rural area, his talent as a vocalist (a record of him singing "Beneath the Maori Moon" was produced by the Decca label) and his extraordinary feat as a teenager in not missing a match for the "Invincibles" gave a touch of the romantic to the Nepia career. And in the 1960s and 80s there were footnotes which added to the legend of Nepia and ensured it would be as fascinating and as compelling to those born in later generations.

In 1963 Terry McLean wrote his biography, I George Nepia, one of the best sports books produced in this country. And in the mid 1980s he was the subject of a widely viewed This Is Your Life television programme.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.

FULL NAME

George Nepia

BORN

Tuesday, 25 April 1905 in Wairoa

DIED

Friday, 27 June 1986 in Ruatoria

PHYSICAL

1.75m, 82kg

POSITION

Fullback

LAST SCHOOL

Maori Agricultural College

RUGBY CLUB
(First made All Blacks from)

MAC

PROVINCES

Hawkes Bay, East Coast

ALL BLACK DEBUT

Saturday, 5 July 1924
v N.S.W. at Sydney
aged 19 years, 71 days

INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

Saturday, 1 November 1924
v Ireland at Dublin
aged 19 years, 190 days

LAST TEST

Saturday, 9 August 1930
v British & Irish Lions at Wellington
aged 25 years, 106 days

ALL BLACK TESTS

9 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK GAMES

37 (0 as Captain)

TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES

46 (0 as Captain)

ALL BLACK TEST POINTS

5pts (0t, 1c, 1p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK GAME POINTS

94pts (1t, 38c, 5p, 0dg, 0m)

TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS

99pts (1t, 39c, 6p, 0dg, 0m)

ALL BLACK NUMBER

295

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

Click on the date to be taken to the Match Card

1924

 5 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 16-20  

 9 Jul vs Metropolitan Union at Sydney 38-5  

 12 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 21-5  

 16 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 38-8  

 23 Jul vs Auckland at Auckland 3-14  

 26 Jul vs Manawatu-Horowhenua at Palmerston North 27-12  

 13 Sep vs Devon at Devonport 11-0  

 18 Sep vs Cornwall at Camborne 29-0  

 20 Sep vs Somerset at Weston-super-Mare 6-0  

 25 Sep vs Gloucestershire at Gloucester 6-0  

 27 Sep vs Swansea at Swansea 39-3  

 2 Oct vs Newport at Newport 13-10  

 4 Oct vs Leicester at Leicester 27-0  

 8 Oct vs North Midlands at Birmingham 40-3  

 11 Oct vs Cheshire at Birkenhead 18-5  

 15 Oct vs Durham at Sunderland 43-7  

 18 Oct vs Yorkshire at Bradford 42-4  

 22 Oct vs Lancashire at Manchester 23-0  

 25 Oct vs Cumberland at Carlisle 41-0  

 1 Nov vs Ireland at Dublin 6-0  

 5 Nov vs Ulster at Belfast 28-6  

 8 Nov vs Northumberland at Gosforth 27-4  

 12 Nov vs Cambridge University at Cambridge 5-0  

 15 Nov vs London Counties at London 31-6  

 20 Nov vs Oxford University at Oxford 33-15  

 22 Nov vs Cardiff at Cardiff 16-8  

 29 Nov vs Wales at Swansea 19-0  

 2 Dec vs Llanelli at Llanelli 8-3  

 6 Dec vs East Midlands at Northampton 31-7  

 11 Dec vs Warwickshire at Coventry 20-0  

 13 Dec vs Combined Services at London 25-3  

 17 Dec vs Hampshire at Portsmouth 22-0  

 27 Dec vs London Counties at London 28-3  

1925

 3 Jan vs England at London 17-11  

 11 Jan vs Selection Francais at Paris 37-8  

 18 Jan vs France at Toulouse 30-6  

 14 Feb vs Vancouver at Vancouver 49-0  

 18 Feb vs Victoria (B.C.) at Vancouver Island 68-4  

 19 Sep vs N.S.W. at Auckland 36-10  

1929

 29 Jun vs N.S.W. at Sydney 0-0  

 6 Jul vs Australia at Sydney 8-9 (-) 

1930

 18 Jun vs North Otago at Oamaru 34-6  

 21 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Dunedin 3-6  

 5 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Christchurch 13-10  

 26 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Auckland 15-10  

 9 Aug vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 22-8  

Points scored for the All Blacks

t

c

p

dg

pts

vs N.S.W., 5 Jul 1924

-

1

1

-

5

vs Metropolitan Union, 9 Jul 1924

-

1

-

-

2

vs Devon, 13 Sep 1924

-

1

-

-

2

vs Cornwall, 18 Sep 1924

-

2

-

-

4

vs North Midlands, 8 Oct 1924

-

5

-

-

10

vs Durham, 15 Oct 1924

-

2

1

-

7

vs Yorkshire, 18 Oct 1924

-

6

2

-

18

vs Lancashire, 22 Oct 1924

-

1

-

-

2

vs Cumberland, 25 Oct 1924

-

1

-

-

2

vs Llanelli, 2 Dec 1924

-

1

-

-

2

vs East Midlands, 6 Dec 1924

-

5

-

-

10

vs Warwickshire, 11 Dec 1924

-

1

-

-

2

vs Combined Services, 13 Dec 1924

-

1

-

-

2

vs Hampshire, 17 Dec 1924

-

1

1

-

5

vs Selection Francais, 11 Jan 1925

-

2

-

-

4

vs Vancouver, 14 Feb 1925

1

-

-

-

3

vs Victoria (B.C.), 18 Feb 1925

-

2

-

-

4

vs Australia, 6 Jul 1929

-

1

1

-

5

vs North Otago, 18 Jun 1930

-

5

-

-

10

Totals

1

39

6

0

99

Test Record by Nation

P

W

D

L

t

c

p

dg

pts

Australia

1

-

-

1

-

1

1

-

5

British & Irish Lions

4

3

-

1

-

-

-

-

-

England

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

France

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Ireland

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Wales

1

1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Totals

9

7

0

2

0

1

1

0

5