Dave Gallaher

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for other people called David/Dave Gallagher/Gallaher see Gallagher
Dave Gallaher
Personal information
Full name David Gallaher
Date of birth 1873-10-30
Place of birth Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland
Date of death 1917-10-04
Place of death Passchendaele, Belgium
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 84 kg (13 st 3 lb)
School Katikati School
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position hooker, wing-forward
All Black No. 97
Clubs
1896 - 1909 Ponsonby
Provincial/State sides Caps (points)
1896 - 1909 Auckland 26
National team(s)    
1903 - 1906 All Blacks 36 (14)

David "Dave" Gallaher (30 October 1873 – 4 October 1917) was a New Zealand rugby union footballer, best known as the captain of "The Originals", the first New Zealand national team to be known as the All Blacks.

Born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland, Gallaher's family emigrated to New Zealand in 1878. Originally settling in Katikati in the Bay of Plenty, they moved to Auckland in the 1890s and it was there that Gallaher played his provincial rugby.

Gallaher played 26 representative matches for Auckland, including the first ever Ranfurly Shield defense, and 36 for the All Blacks, including 6 tests. Gallaher's All Black career spanned from 1903 to 1906, the highlight being the captaincy of the "Originals" tour in which he played 26 matches including 4 tests. Gallaher proved to be an outstanding leader and one of the deepest thinkers of the game in his era.

Gallaher fought in the Boer War serving as a corporal in the 6th and 10th New Zealand Contingents of Mounted Rifles. Although exempt from conscription due to his age, Gallaher also volunteered to fight in World War I, and apparently altered his date of birth to 31/10/76 or 31 October 1876 (see link to NZEF form below). He saw action at Ypres, and was killed during the Passchendaele offensive on 4 October 1917. He is buried at Nine Elms Cemetery, Poperinge, where his gravestone bears the silver fern.

[edit] Memorials

In 1922, the Auckland union introduced the Gallaher Shield in his honour as the trophy for that province's club competition.

Introduced in 2000, the Dave Gallaher Trophy is contested between New Zealand and France. It is awarded to the winner of the first test match between the two nations in any given year. So far it has been contested five times, with the All Blacks victorious in 2000 and 2001, retaining the trophy after a 20-all draw in 2002, and winning again in 2003, 2004 and 2006. The two teams did not play each other in 2005.

In 2005, the Letterkenny Rugby Football Club, the club closest to Gallaher's birthplace in Ramelton, decided to name its home ground the “Dave Gallaher Memorial Park” and unveiled a plaque at his birthplace. Members of the 2005 All Blacks, led by captain Tana Umaga, attended the unveiling.

On 30 November 2006 a film/documentry was launched in Century Cinema's Letterkenny, called Dave Gallaher, Legacy of an Irish Original, the film/documentry produced by Letterkenny Rugby Club and directed/edited by Wallace Media Studios, Donegal, outlines the history of Dave Gallaher, his birth to his death, how the All Blacks trip to Donegal came about, exclusive footage and interviews with the All Blacks and how Gallaher's legacy has helped and will continue to help in the development of rugby union in Donegal.

Letterkenny based rugby player Jeremy Worth wrote a poem in honour of Dave Gallaher.[1]

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME David Gallaher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dave Gallaher
SHORT DESCRIPTION New Zealand Rugby union footballer. Captained New Zealand All Blacks in their 1905 Northern Hemisphere tour.
DATE OF BIRTH 30 October 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland
DATE OF DEATH 4 October 1917
PLACE OF DEATH Passchendaele, Belgium
Languages