Reg Sprague

Reg Sprague is a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand.[1]

Reg Sprague
Personal information
Full nameErnest Reginald Sprague
Born1 May, 1880
New Zealand
Died13 February, 1969
Playing information
Weight69.9 kg (11 st 0 lb)
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1911–16 Ngaruawahia 5 2 4
1913 City Rovers 1
Total 6 0 2 0 4
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1911–16 Lower Waikato 9 1 5 0 13
1911 Auckland 1 1 0 0 3
1911 New Zealand 4 2 0 0 6
1913 Waikato Country 1 0 0 0 0
1913 Waikato 1 0 0 0 0
As of 3 January 2021
Source: [1]

Playing career

Sprague played for the Ngaruawahia club in its first year of existence, 1911.[2] That same year he played for Lower Waikato. His first match was against Auckland in a 22-36 loss at Frankton in front of 400 spectators. Sprague kicked 3 conversions and a penalty.[3] He later played for Auckland against Nelson.[4][5]

He was selected for the 1911 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia, though he played no tests on the tour.[6]

Sprague then 'retired' from playing and in 1912 he refereed a match between Te Kuiti and Hamilton in Frankton.[7] He came out of retirement in 1913. He played a match for the City Rovers side in the Auckland competition before playing for the Waikato Country side against Auckland on June 28.[8] He then played 4 matches for Lower Waikato against Hamilton, Rotorua (twice), and Hamilton again. He scored a try and kicked a goal in their first match against Rotorua which was for the Endean Shield and saw them win 17-0. Sprague was then selected to play for the full Waikato side to play the touring New South Wales team. They were defeated 20-14 on September 4 at Claudelands in Hamilton.

In 1914 he played for Lower Waikato against Rotorua on July 4 but with the outbreak of war there was considerably less sport being played. His final matches were in 1916 for Ngaruawahia against City Rovers on August 26 and Lower Waikato against the same opponents on September 9 at Victoria Park.[9][10]

Move to Te Aroha

After retiring from playing Sprague moved to Te Aroha where he became the manager of the Thames Valley Electric Power Board. He became involved in rugby in the area and refereed some matches there. He was a member of the Piako club and was a vice-president of the Thames Valley rugby union.[11]

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. Superleague, Issue 1, 2011. p.9.
  3. "Auckland v Lower Waikato". Auckland Star. XLII (192). 14 August 1911. p. 8. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  4. Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4.
  5. "Auckland Win Again/Victory Over Nelson". The New Zealand Herald. XLVIII (147680). 28 August 1911. p. 9. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  6. SPRAGUE, Reginald Ernest - 1911 nzleague.co.nz
  7. "Northern Union Game/Te Kuiti 5 v. Hamilton 3". King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 473. 12 June 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  8. "Auckland Defeat Country/Dufty's Fine Kicking". The New Zealand Herald. L (15341). 30 June 1913. p. 4. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  9. "City V Lower Waikato". New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16319. 28 August 1916. p. 8. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  10. "Lower Waikato in Auckland". Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 217. 11 September 1916. p. 8. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  11. "Rugby Thames Valley Union/Annual Meeting". Te Aroha News, Volume XLI, Issue 6468. 11 September 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
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