| Full name | Edward James Kavanagh | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 3 July 1888 | ||
| Place of birth | Invercargill, New Zealand | ||
| Date of death | 16 March 1960 | ||
| Place of death | Hastings, New Zealand | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Fly-half (first five-eighth) | ||
| Provincial/State sides | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| Southland Rugby Football Union | |||
Edward James Kavanagh (born July 3, 1888) was a New Zealand Rugby Union and Cricket player who captained the Southland Rugby Football Union and Southland Cricket team. Kavanagh became one of Southland's finest all-round sporting sons.
It was at first five-eighth playing for Athletic Club where Kavanagh won his Southland representative cap. He captained the Southland rugby team in 1914 and the New Zealand Rifle Brigade rugby team in England during World War I.
Kavanagh graduated as one of the finest batsmen of his school and played his first representative game for Southland in the now-famous Hawke Cup of 1911, which saw Southland forced to play two games on foreign soil and win. Kavanagh captained Southland several times and in 1921, he was called on to play against Australia. Those of his club and representative team mates claimed that but for a flaw in his concentration when compiling an innings, he would have been one of the best left-hand batsmen in New Zealand. He was also a top class spin bowler and a brilliant cover point fieldsman. Moving up North, Kavanagh went on to play for Waikato, Hawkes Bay and the North Island XI.