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| ru_provinceyears = | ru_provincecaps = | ru_provincepoints = | other = yes | occupation = Axeman, miner, freezing works laborour | family = | spouse = | children = | relatives = | school = | university = }} William "Bill" Cunningham (8 July 1874 – 3 September 1927) was a New Zealand rugby union player who represented New Zealand—known as the All Blacks—between 1901 and 1908. Most notably he toured with the Original All Blacks on their 1905–06 tour of the British Isles, France and North America. They were the first New Zealand representative team to visit the British Isles, and of their 32 matches there Cunningham played in 23. He played mainly at lock, and was added to the touring party due to his strong scrummaging ability. He played in three Test matches during the trip: against Scotland, Ireland and France, but did not play in the loss to Wales due to injury; the All Blacks' only defeat on tour. Born in Te Awamutu, Cunningham originally played club rugby in Waihi, in the Coromandel region. Lying within the Auckland Rugby Football Union's boundaries, he was selected to play for Auckland province in 1899 and continued to represent the side until his retirement in 1913. He was first picked for New Zealand in 1901, and played against New South Wales that year, but was not selected again until the 1905 Originals' tour. After the tour he continued to represent New Zealand in both 1907 and 1908. He was a member of the first ever New Zealand Māori team in 1910, and played for them again in 1912. On retirement in 1913 he had appeared for Auckland 45 times, and for New Zealand 39—both large numbers for the time. == Early career == Cunningham first played representative rugby union for Auckland province in 1899. He was selected from his club Waihi West (a club in Waihi on the Coromandel Peninsula), which was affiliated to the Goldfield subunion. At the time the Goldfields Rugby Union was a subunion of the Auckland Rugby Football Union, but its constituent clubs are now affiliated to the Thames Valley Rugby Football Union. He was first selected to play for New Zealand in 1901, and played against Wellington and the touring New South Wales team that was touring New Zealand at the time. Both matches were comfortably won, with the tourists defeated 20–3. Cunningham played his first of four matches for Auckland against international opposition, against the same New South Wales side a week later, with his Auckland team winning 24–3. Cunningham moved to Auckland in 1902, and played his club rugby for City, before joining Ponsonby the following season. He had been displaced from the national team by this time, with Cantabrian Bernard Fanning preferred at lock. The New Zealanders used a different scrum formation than seen today, and only one lock was ever required. Despite not being selected for New Zealand in 1904, Cunningham continued to appear for Auckland, and played in two particularly notable matches that season. In 1904 the first Ranfurly Shield match was played. The shield, a provincial challenge trophy won by defeating the holder, was to become the most prestigious trophy in domestic New Zealand rugby. Due to their unmatched provincial record at the time Auckland were awarded the shield. The first shield challenge was played against Wellington, who were not expected to pose much of a threat. Auckland had not lost at home in six years, but, with Cunningham in the side, Auckland lost 6–3. The second notable match that season was against the touring British Isles who were conducting a tour of Australia and New Zealand. The Aucklanders defeated the British Isles side 13–0, with Cunningham scoring a try and contributing significantly to the dominance of his team's forwards. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bill Cunningham (rugby union)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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