Jim O'Brien (rugby, born 1897)

Andrew James O'Brien (1897–1969) was a New Zealand rugby footballer who represented New Zealand with the All Blacks and in rugby league.

This article is about the New Zealand rugby union and rugby league player. For the New Zealand rugby league player, see Jim O'Brien (rugby league, born 1896).

Jim O'Brien
Personal information
Full nameAndrew James O'Brien
Born(1897-09-06)6 September 1897
Blenheim, New Zealand
Died9 May 1969(1969-05-09) (aged 71)
Auckland, New Zealand
Playing information
Weight87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
Rugby union
PositionHooker, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1919–20 Opawa 16 1 4 0 15
1922–23 Grafton 20 3 9 0 22
1922 Harbour Board (employee) 1 1 0 0 3
Total 37 5 13 0 40
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1919 Marlborough Trial 2 2 1 0 8
1919–21 Marlborough 9 4 6 0 25
1920 South Island Country 5 0 1 0 3
1921 Nelson-Marlborough-Golden Bay-Motueka 1 0 0 0 0
1922 North Island 1 0 0 0 0
1922 New Zealand 3 1 0 0 3
1923 Auckland B/A 7 2 2 0 12
Rugby league
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1924–30 Marist (ARL) 92 28 21 0 126
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1924–1930 Auckland 12 2 7 0 20
1924–28 New Zealand 14 3 0 0 9
1924 Auckland Province 1 0 0 0 0
1928 North Island 1 0 0 0 0
Source: Scrum.com [1]

Rugby union career

O'Brien began his career playing rugby union for Marlborough between 1919 and 1921. He also played for a combined Nelson-Marlborough-Golden Bay-Motueka side against the 1921 Springboks in the side's 26–3 defeat.[2] In that game he lined up alongside fellow future dual-international Charles Fitzgerald.

In 1922, he moved north to Auckland, joining the Grafton club. He immediately was selected for the North Island side and subsequently the All Blacks tour of New Zealand and South Wales.[2] He finished the tour having played in 3 games and scored one try. Returning to Auckland, O’Brien played his first game for the union late in the 1922 season. In 1923 he played five games for Auckland.

Rugby league career
Marist in 1929, O'Brien is far right in the front row
O'Brien standing upright behind the action with his legs obscured.

O'Brien switched to rugby league in 1924, joining Marist in the Auckland Rugby League competition. He played for Auckland and made the New Zealand national rugby league team for three tests against the touring Great Britain Lions side that year. He toured Australia in 1925 and gained another two Kiwi test caps playing against Great Britain when they toured again in 1928.[3] In 1929, he served as the secretary of the Marist club.

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. Jim O'Brien profile, allblacks.com. Accessed 4 August 2023.
  3. O'BRIEN, Andrew James 1924 – 25, 1928 – Kiwi #157 Archived 1 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
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