Jimmy_Edwards_(rugby_league)
Jimmy Edwards (rugby league)
New Zealand rugby league footballer
Robert James Edwards (24 December 1926 – 30 July 2015) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand in the 1954 World Cup.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Robert James Edwards[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1926-12-24)24 December 1926 New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 30 July 2015(2015-07-30) (aged 88) Mount Eden, Auckland, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Edwards played for the Marist club in the Auckland Rugby League competition and also represented Auckland, making his debut in the 1950 tour of Wellington and the South Island.[3] He later played for Auckland against the touring American All-Stars in 1953 and in a 5–4 victory over Great Britain in 1954.
Edwards made his debut for the New Zealand national rugby league team in 1951 on the tour of Great Britain. He played in a total of 17 test matches, including a tour of Australia in 1952 and the 1954 World Cup. He had the distinction of being the first scorer in Rugby League World Cup history, with a try after only five minutes in the first match against France on 30 October 1954. He scored 20 tries in a total of 45 matches for the Kiwis.[4]
Edwards died in the Auckland suburb of Mount Eden on 30 July 2015.[5]
- EDWARDS, Robert James - 1951 - 54 Archived 5 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine nzleague.co.nz
- "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4.
- "A time to remember..." New Zealand Warriors. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
- "Robert Edwards death notice". New Zealand Herald. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2016.