Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 093: Harry Avery

Harry Avery was the captain of the St Pat’s Old Boys club that won (shared with Petone) its sole Jubilee Cup title in 1949.

Avery was a lock and spent four seasons from the late 1940s in the Wellington representative team, and he played against the touring British and Irish Lions in 1950.

Arthur Henry ‘Harry’ Avery was born on 28 March 1924 and his initial first-class rugby was during World War 2 playing for Marlborough out of the Omaka and Woodburne Air Force clubs.  He played for the South Island Services team in 1944.

Following the war he was playing for St. Patrick’s College Rugby Club in Wellington and played three matches for the Wellington B team in 1946.

He played 25 matches for the Wellington A team between 1947-50.

St Pat’s Old Boys was formed in 1926 and subsequently merged with Marist Brothers Old Boys in 1971 to form today’s MSP club. Their high-water mark was sharing the Jubilee Cup in 1949 with Petone.

In a tight race involving several clubs, St Pat’s Old Boys were at the head of the competition throughout most of the first round and were leaders by one point at the start of July when they lost to Wellington College Old Boys 6-8 in a clutch match in atrocious conditions. WCOB kicked a match winning penalty in injury time. On the same day, Petone took the lead by beating Wellington 8-5.

The competition remained on a knife-edge for the next few rounds, all these teams and defending champions and St Pat’s Old Boys’ keen rivals and defending champions Marist Old Boys vying for ascendancy.

With no semi-finals or finals then and after a break in club rugby the week before because Wellington was playing Otago (which they drew 9-9) It all came down to the matches on 27 August for Avery’s and coach Vince Paino’s men, as the Dominion wrote.

“It’s not clear that it’s all over yet. Its probable that another round will be played but the final arrangements won’t be known till the WRFU meets tomorrow night.”

As it stood at that point, St Pat’s Old Boys and Petone were joint leaders – after St Pat’s and Petone had leapfrogged previous leaders Marist. St Pat’s beat Marist 20-6 and Petone defeated WCOB 6-3.

The WRFU convened that Tuesday night and decided that was it for the year and St Pat’s and Petone shared the Cup.

St Pat’s Old Boys’ leading player in 1949 was prop Des O’Donnell who during the season was selected to play for the All Blacks against the Wallabies.

Avery and St Pat’s Old Boys Boys remained Jubilee Cup contenders the following year, the joint defending champions opened 1950 with a stirring come-from-behind 14-10 win over WCOB. But they would be overshadowed by Marist, who came through the pack in an unbeaten run to win their second title in three years.

Both clubs struggled in 1951. Marist missed making the Jubilee Cup and settled for winning the Hardham Cup while St Pat’s Old Boys finished last and had to face second division winners Eastbourne in a promotion-relegation match. They won that 32-6 to retain their Senior A status.

Avery played eight matches for Wellington in 1947, scoring a try on debut in a 13-3 win over Taranaki.  Wellington had a promising season, winning 12 and losing three.

He played four matches for Wellington in 1948 and two in 1949, as Wellington’s form dipped as they struggled with injuries.

Avery played in all Wellington’s 11 first-class matches in 1950 as captain of the team, his final season in Wellington colours.

The main match of the year was on 24 June against the touring British Isles side. Avery locked the scrum with World War 2 fighter pilot and later Wellington College teacher Frank Crist who played for Wellington College Old Boys. The tourists won 12-6. This pair was Wellington’s main locking duo in 1950.

Like the previous two years, 1950 was not a vintage season for Wellington. But they finished strongly with wins at Athletic Park over Canterbury (25-8) and Auckland (11-6). After scoring a try on debut in 1947, Avery ended his representative career by scoring a try against Auckland in his final match for Wellington.

Post rugby, Avery ran a grocery store on Overtoun Terrace in Hataitai for many years.

He died on 8 March 2003.

REFERENCES

• Dominion – various articles 1949, 1950
• Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
• Donoghue, Tim. C’mon Red! A Celebration of Marist St Pat’s Rugby. Tim Donoghue Publications, Raetihi, 2020.
• Swan, A.C. History of New Zealand Rugby Football. Vol. 2 1946-1957. Whitcombe & Tombs, Wellington 1958.
• Swan, Arthur C.; Jackson, Gordon F. W. (1952). Wellington’s Rugby History 1870 – 1950. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed