Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 055: Eric Tindill

Eric Tindill is one of Wellington’s most celebrated all-round sportsmen.

His sports journey has been well-canvassed, and every Wellingtonian knows his story. But here it is below to document for our website.

Tindill is the only man to have ever represented New Zealand in both Test rugby and Test cricket. He also refereed both cricket and rugby Test matches and was a leading rugby and cricket administrator and selector in both sports for many years.

Eric William Thomas Tindill was born in Nelson on 18 December 1910 and passed away at Wellington hospital on Sunday 1 August 2010, aged 99.

As a rugby player Tindill played for the old Athletic club and was predominantly a halfback who also played representative rugby at first five-eighth – the position he was chosen for when he first made the All Blacks on their six-month tour of the UK in 1935/36.

“Snowy” Tindill had the distinction of beating the All Blacks on his debut for Wellington in 1932 – scoring a try in the 36-23 victory.

He was a regular rugby representative throughout the 1930s, although he faced stiff competition amongst Wellington’s inside backs at the time from players as first five-eighths Rusty Page and Jack Griffiths and halfbacks Frank Kilby and Joey Sadler.

Among his notable appearances for Wellington were the Ranfurly Shield challenges against Otago in 1936 (won 16-3 by Otago) and Southland in 1938 (won 10-3 by Southland).

Tindill’s family moved to Wellington from Motueka when he was 11 and he was educated in Wellington at Wellington Technical College (Wellington High School).

After debuting in Wellington club rugby for Athletic, Tindill made his Wellington representative rugby debut in 1932 and made seven appearances that season. He made sporadic appearances for the Wellington side over the next two seasons and missed 1935 altogether as he was sailing with the All Blacks. It was the late 1930s when his rugby career for Wellington grew busier and his 10 matches in 1939 for his province would be his most prolific season.

Tindill debuted for the All Blacks against Yorkshire and Cumberland on 21 September 1935, aged 24. He played his only rugby Test at first-five on that same tour in a 0-13 loss against England at Twickenham in early January 1936, in a Test that was made famous by the try-scoring antics of Russian Prince Alexander Obolensky. On that 30-match 1935/36 tour he made 14 appearances for the All Blacks.

He also made three mid-week appearances for the All Blacks at halfback during their 1938 tour of Australia, in all playing 17 matches the All Blacks, including one Test.

Tindill was vice-captain of the Athletic team that won a keenly contested Jubilee Cup in 1936. The season went down to the wire, with Athletic defeating Wellington College Old Boys 3-0 in a virtual final on the last afternoon. Athletic won 12, lost two and drew one of their matches that season, scoring 168 points and conceding 73.

After winning the Senior Club Championship in 1936, Tindill’s Athletic defended the title in 1937 in more convincing fashion, wrapping up the title with over two weekends to spare, with WCOB again second and Poneke third.

On the cricket field, Tindill, a left handed wicket-keeper – batsman, was the first player to score a century on debut for Wellington – scoring 106 in a Plunket Shield match against Auckland in 1933. His first-class cricket career spanned 18 seasons until his retirement in 1949/50.

He played 29 matches including 5 cricket Tests for New Zealand between 1937 and 1947, scoring 562 runs at 17.03 after making his Test debut at the home of cricket at Lord’s. In all first-class cricket, as predominantly an opening batsman, he scored 3,127 runs at a healthy average of 30.35, including six 50s and 13 centuries and with a top score of 149. With the gloves he took 96 catches and completed 33 stumpings.

For Wellington, he played 39 matches, scoring 2,442 runs at 35.91 and hitting six centuries and 10 fifties. Behind the stumps he took 59 catches and made 15 stumpings.

Another claim to fame for him catching out the legendary batsman Don Bradman off the bowling of Jack Cowie in a match against South Australia (for just 11). This was on the way home from New Zealand’s tour of England in 1937 and was the only occasion that Bradman played against a New Zealand side.

At club level, Tindill played his cricket for the Midland club (a forerunner of today’s Eastern Suburbs CC) and until recently was still a keen follower of the current nine-time Wellington club cricket champions Eastern Suburbs and of all first-class and Test cricket at the Basin Reserve.

Like all sportsmen of his generation, Tindill’s career was severely curtailed due to World War 11. Tindill served with the NZEF during the war and fought against the ‘Desert Fox’ Erwin Rommel while serving in North Africa.

He continued playing rugby in various New Zealand teams whilst serving overseas, and in 1941 whilst in England played for two matches for an Empire XV and appeared for Aldershot Command.

Tindill returned from the theatre of war to play the final two of 33 career first-class matches for Wellington in 1945. He also played for the recently formed Centurions club right up to the early 1950s.

As an international rugby referee, Tindill officiated the All Blacks’ opening two clashes against the 1950 British Lions. He also controlled the All Black versus Australia Test in Dunedin in 1955 and was also on the pea the day the New Zealand Universities lowered the Springboks on Athletic Park on their famous 1956 tour. This match was also made memorable by Wellington’s great winger of the time Ron Jarden scoring his ‘try that wasn’t’ – an exciting 50 metre try that was disallowed as he had put his foot into touch back near halfway.

Tindill was a long-time secretary of the Wellington Cricket Association and served as a Wellington and New Zealand cricket selector in the 1950s. He was on the five-strong panel that selected the New Zealand team that won its first ever Test victory, against the West Indies in 1956.

Out in the middle, he umpired the New Zealand – England cricket Test at Lancaster Park in Christchurch in 1959.

He was a leading identity and at one point president of the Athletic rugby club in Wellington (now merged with Onslow to be the Wests Roosters) and went on write its centenary history in 1976.

Tindill was also heavily involved in other sports, carrying administrative roles with the New Zealand Boxing Council (Treasurer from 1973-1981) and the Wellington Table Tennis Association – which he co-founded in 1932.

Additionally, Tindill was a Wellington soccer representative in 1927.

Professionally, he was an accountant and spent his career working for the Government Audit Office.

Two of his sons were also noted rugby and cricket players. Paul played at first class level for Wellington in both rugby and cricket and Dennis played rugby for Wellington B in 1964.

References:

• Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
• All Blacks A-Z profile Eric Tindill, by Lindsay Knight.
• Athletic Football Club Diamond Jubilee 1877-1937 Souvenir Programme.
• Dominion Post 2 August 2010: ‘Double All Black Eric Tindill dies aged 99.’ By Mark Geenty.
• Evening Post various Senior Championship club rugby news reports 1936 and 1937
• Romanos, Joseph. A Century of New Zealand Cricketers. David Bateman Ltd, Auckland 1993.
• Swan, Arthur C.; Jackson, Gordon F. W. (1952). Wellington’s Rugby History 1870 – 1950. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed