Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison, also known as Tom Ellison or Tamati Erihana, was a New Zealand rugby union player and lawyer. He led the first New Zealand representative rugby team organised by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union on their 1893 tour of Australia. In 1892, he started to refine and popularise the wing-forward system of play, which was a vital element of New Zealand’s success until 1932. He was the author of a coaching manual, The Art of Rugby Football, published in 1902.
About Thomas Ellison in brief
Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison, also known as Tom Ellison or Tamati Erihana, was a New Zealand rugby union player and lawyer. He led the first New Zealand representative rugby team organised by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union on their 1893 tour of Australia. Ellison also played in the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team on their epic 107-match tour, scoring 113 points, and 43 tries with the side. In 1892, he started to refine and popularise the wing-forward system of play, which was a vital element of New Zealand’s success until 1932. He was the author of a coaching manual, The Art of Rugby Football, published in 1902. As well as being one of the first Māori admitted to the bar, practising as a solicitor, and later as a barrister, Ellison also stood unsuccessfully for the Southern Maori parliamentary seat several times. After contracting tuberculosis in 1904, he was briefly institutionalised before dying later that year. Ellison was born in Otakou at Otago Heads, to Raniera Taheke Ellison and Nani Weller, sometime between 1866 and 1868. He is of Ngāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe tribal heritage through his mother, and of Te Āti Awa heritagethrough his father. Ellison played for the Poneke Football Club in 1885, and continued to be selected for Wellington until 1892. He eventually earned 23 caps—a large number for the time. Initially Ellison played as a forward or on the wing, but later played half-back.
Ellison later wrote of his first game: “We were all there for a game, and immediately started on that poor, unprotected ball. What our main object was I cannot say, but mine was to see more of that ball, and to know more about football, and, before the game was over, which did not last long, I didsee more of the ball, as I ripped it in the first scrum; but my other object remained unsatisfied” He was named after his paternal grandfather, and his middle name, Rangwahia, was given in honour of his great-uncle. Ellison died in Wellington in 1904. He had a son, Tom Ellison, who played rugby for the Wellington club side, and a daughter, Tamati Ellison. Ellison is buried in the Otago Head Cemetery in Otago, where he was a pupil at Te Aute College in the Hawke’s Bay area. He also had a grandson, Tom, who was a rugby player for the Auckland club team, and played for Wellington province in the 1880s and 1890s. Ellison had a great deal of influence on the development of rugby union in New Zealand, and was involved in the creation of the All Blacks rugby team in the early 20th century. His son Tom Ellison is also a rugby union coach and former All Blacks player. Ellison’s great-great-grandson is All Blacks coach, Michael All Blacks head coach, Mike All Blacks.
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This page is based on the article Thomas Ellison published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 14, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
