David Gallaher (30October 1873 – 4October 1917) was an Irish-born New Zealand rugby union footballer best remembered as the captain of the "Original All Blacks"—the 1905–06 New Zealand national team, the first representative New Zealand side to tour the Irish and British Isles. Under Gallaher's leadership the Originals won 34 out of 35 matches over the course of tour, including legs in France and North America; the New Zealanders scored 976 points and conceded only 59. Before returning home he co-wrote the classic rugby text The Complete Rugby Footballer with his vice-captain Billy Stead. Gallaher retired as a player after the 1905–06 tour and took up coaching and selecting; he was a selector for both Auckland and New Zealand for most of the following decade.
Born in Ramelton, Ireland, Gallaher migrated to New Zealand with his family as a small child. After moving to Auckland, in 1895 he joined Ponsonby RFC and was selected for his province in 1896. In 1901–02 he served with the New Zealand Contingent in the Anglo–Boer War. He first appeared on the New Zealand national team for their unbeaten tour of Australia in 1903, and played in New Zealand's first ever Test match, against Australia in Sydney. The Originals Gallaher captained during 1905–06 helped to cement rugby as New Zealand's national sport, but he was relentlessly pilloried by the British press for his role as wing-forward. The use of a wing-forward, which critics felt was a tactic to deliberately obstruct opponents, contributed to decades of strain between the rugby authorities of New Zealand and the Home Nations; the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) effectively outlawed the position in 1931.
During the First World War, Gallaher enlisted in the New Zealand Division to fight in Europe. He was fatally wounded by shrapnel wounds to the head in 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium. He has since been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, International Rugby Hall of Fame, and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. A number of memorials exist in Gallaher's honour, including the Gallaher Shield for the winner of Auckland's club championship, and the Dave Gallaher Trophy contested between the national teams of France and New Zealand.
Early life Dave Gallaher was born as David Gallagher on 30October 1873 at Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland, the third son of James Henry Gallagher, a 69-year-old shopkeeper, and his 29-year-old wife, Maria Hardy Gallagher (née McCloskie). James was a widower who had married Maria in 1866, a year after the death of his first wife. James had two children from his first marriage, and David was the seventh from his marriage to Maria. The couple had three more children after David, but of their ten offspring, three died in infancy. The couple's other offspring were: Joseph (born 1867), Isabella (1868), James (1869), Maria (called Molly, 1870), Jane (1871), Thomas (1872), William (1875), Oswald (1876), and James Patrick (1878). David was baptised as a Presbyterian in the First Ramelton Meeting House on 8January 1874.
After struggling in his drapery business in Ramelton, James decided to emigrate with his family to New Zealand as part of George Vesey Stewart's Katikati Special Settlement scheme. In May 1878 the Gallaghersminus the sick James Patrick who at eight weeks old was too weak to make the tripsailed from Belfast on the Lady Jocelyn for Katikati in the Bay of Plenty. On arriving in New Zealand, the family altered their surname to "Gallaher" in an effort to reduce confusion over its spelling and pronunciation.
The Gallaher couple and their six children arrived in Auckland after a three-month voyage, and from there sailed to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty, before their final voyage to Katikati. On arrival they found the settlement scheme was not what they had envisaged or been promised: the land allocated to the family required enormous work to be broken in before being suitable for farming, there was no easy access to water, and the settlement was very hilly. It had been hoped that James would be employed as the agent for the Donegal Knitting Company in New Zealand, which was to be established by Lord George Hill. But Hill died unexpectedly and his successor did not support the initiative. As the family's poor quality land was insufficient to make a living, the children's mother Maria soon became the chief breadwinner after she obtained a position teaching for £2 a week at the new No. 2 School.
In January 1886 David spent a week in Auckland hospital undergoing surgery to treat stunted muscles in his left leg which had led to curvature of his spine. His mother became sick that same year, and in 1887 lost her teaching position. His mother's condition worsened and she died of cancer on 9September 1887. With a father in his seventies, the 13-year-old David was compelled to leave school so he could help his brothers to support the family. He took a job with a local stock and station agent.
The older Gallaher children had to work to prevent the local authorities from putting their younger siblings up for adoption. In 1889, with the exception of William who remained in Katikati, the family joined Joseph in Auckland, where he had found work. Davidwho was by now 17 years oldwas able to obtain work at the Northern Roller Mills Company, and was soon a member of the firm's junior cricket team. In the late 1890s Gallaher took employment at the Auckland Farmers' Freezing Company as a labourer; by the time of his deployment for the First World War two decades later he had risen to the position of foreman. His work required the constant handling of heavy animal carcasses, which helped him build upper body strength and kept him fit.
Early rugby career Gallaher first gained attention for his talents as a rugby player while living in Katikati. After moving to Auckland, he played junior rugby for Parnell from 1890. He joined the Ponsonby District Rugby Football Club in 1895, after the family moved to Freemans Bay following Joseph's marriage to Nell Burchell. Gallaher, who played at hooker, was selected for an Auckland "B" side that year, and made his debut for Auckland against the touring Queensland team on 8August 1896. The Aucklanders won 15–6. Gallaher was retained for Auckland's remaining fixtures that season: defeats to Wellington, Taranaki and Otago.
In 1897, Gallaher's Ponsonby won eight of their nine matches en route to the Auckland club championship. He was selected to play for Auckland against the New Zealand representative side that had just completed a tour of Australia. The Aucklanders won 11–10 after scoring a late try; it was only New Zealand's second loss of their eleven-match tour. Later that year Gallaher was selected for Auckland's three-match tour where they defeated Taranaki, Wellington and Wanganui. Wellington's defeat was their first loss at home since the formation of the Wellington Rugby Football Union in 1879. The following season was less eventful for Gallaherhe played much of the season for Ponsonby, but injury prevented his selection for Auckland.
After missing the 1898 season for Auckland, Gallaher continued to be selected for the union throughout 1899 and 1900. The side was undefeated over this time; he played for them twice in 1899, and in all four matches in 1900. He represented Auckland a total of 26 times over his career.
Anglo-Boer War
In January 1901 Gallaher joined the Sixth New Zealand Contingent of Mounted Rifles for service in the Anglo-Boer War. When enlisting he gave his date of birth as 31October 1876, three years later than the actual date. It is unknown why he did this but the later date continued to be used in official records for the rest of his life. Gallaher was given a send-off dinner by his Ponsonby club before the contingent departed from Auckland on 31January. After disembarking in South Africa at East London on 14March 1901, Gallaher's contingent immediately embarked for Pretoria, and it was there that, as part of forces under the command of General Herbert Plumer, they set about their task of "rid[ding] the Northern Transvaal of Boer guerrillas and sympathizers."
A member of the contingent's 16th (Auckland) Company, he served in the advanced guard, who scouted ahead of the main force. In October 1901 Gallaher contracted malaria, and was hospitalised in Charlestown, Natal. In a letter he composed to his sister while recovering he wrote:
Between late December 1901 and early January 1902 Gallaher and his contingent were involved in a number of skirmishes. He described one incident where he had several Boer fighters in his sights, but did not have "the heart" to fire at them while they rescued one of their comrades. Describing a later encounter to his sister, Gallaher wrote: "We had a total of 22 killed and 36 injured and a few taken prisoners[;] it was a pretty mournful sight to see the Red Cross bearers cruising around the field fetching all the dead and wounded who were laying all over the place". By March 1902 Gallaher had reached the rank of squadron sergeant-major, and his contingent was on its way to Durban. There the unit boarded ship for New Zealand, but Gallaher stayed behind, transferring to the Tenth New Zealand Contingent. His new unit did not see active service in South Africa, and he returned with them to New Zealand in August 1902. For his service Gallaher received the Queen's South Africa Medal (Cape Colony, Orange Free State, and Transvaal Clasps), and King's South Africa Medal (South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902 Clasps).
Resumption of his rugby career
During his time in South Africa Gallaher did play some rugby, But he was not fit enough to play immediately upon his return to New Zealand, and so did not resume playing rugby for Ponsonby until the 1903 season. When he did return for his club, for the first match of the year, he was described as "the outstanding forward" in a comprehensive defeat of Parnell.
Despite having missed two seasons of provincial rugby, Gallaher was included in the 22-man New Zealand representative squad to tour Australia during 1903. He was the first Ponsonby player ever to play for the New Zealand team, commonly known as the "All Blacks". The 1903 team to Australia was, according to Winston McCarthy's 1968 history of the All Blacks, "still regarded by old-timers as the greatest team to ever leave New Zealand." The tour did not start wella preliminary match in New Zealand, against Wellington, was lost 14–5, though Gallaher did score his first try for his country.
Gallaher played eight matchesthe first four as hooker and the remainder as wing-forwardout of eleven during the six-week tour. The party was captained by the veteran Otago player Jimmy Duncan, who was widely recognised as a master tactician. The first match in Australia, against New South Wales, was won 12–0 by the New Zealanders, despite their having a man sent off. After playing a Combined Western Districts side, New Zealand played a second match against New South Wales. New Zealand won again, but only 3–0 on a flooded pitch at Sydney Cricket Ground. The side continued touring the state before making their way north to Queensland, where they twice played the state side. The New Zealanders then returned to New South Wales, where the first-ever Australia–New Zealand rugby union Test match took place in Sydney.
Since the selection of the first New Zealand team in 1884, inter-colonial games had been played against New South Wales (ten New Zealand wins from thirteen matches), and Queensland (seven New Zealand wins from seven), but none had been contested against a combined Australian side. The matchwon 22–3 by the New Zealanders, who scored three tries to nilmarked Gallaher's first international cap. The last match of the tour was against New South Wales Country; New Zealand won 32–0. On their ten-match tour of Australia, New Zealand had scored 276 points and conceded only 13.