James O'Donnell (1860 - May 1, 1942) is a New Zealand rugby union player. Forward, he was a member of the first New Zealand national team in 1884, and then played for New South Wales.
Video James O'Donnell (rugby union)
Kehidupan awal
Born in County Kilkenny in Ireland in 1860, O'Donnell left Ireland with two brothers and a sister to escape their "cruel" father. Another brother fled the country after cutting off the ear of a British soldier. Living in New Zealand, O'Donnell is considered to be serving in the police force and working as a teacher.
Maps James O'Donnell (rugby union)
Rugby union
New Zealand
While living in Invercargill, he represented Otago in 1883, as the Southland Rugby Union was not formed until 1887.
In 1884 O'Donnell was elected to the first national team touring Australia but before he even got to Wellington to join the team, he was arrested by a fugitive order in Clinton and returned to Invercargill. Local merchants who received money had issued a warrant after hearing that O'Donnell might not return from Australia. But no creditors attended the trial so he could join the Wellington team as expected. After the tour O'Donnell played in seven of the nine (no international) tour matches, scored four trials and was regarded as the fastest team member. The tour manager Samuel Sleigh described it as "fast wing forward".
New South Wales
When his creditors were afraid, O'Donnell remained in Australia at the end of the tour. He went on to represent New South Wales between 1884 and 1888, and played against the England team in 1888. His son, Jack O'Donnell, also represented New South Wales.
Next life and death
In 1901, O'Donnell competed with Randwick's chair for the Progressive Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, but was defeated by the incumbent, David Storey.
After John Dumbell's death in 1936, O'Donnell held the distinction of being the oldest living in the All Black. He died in Randwick, New South Wales on May 1, 1942 and was buried at Waverley Cemetery.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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