{"id":30661,"date":"2026-05-06T12:47:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/?p=30661"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:47:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:47:39","slug":"pioneers-of-rugby-in-wellington-125-bill-fleming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/2026\/05\/06\/pioneers-of-rugby-in-wellington-125-bill-fleming\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 125: Bill Fleming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1 .wpls-fix-box,\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1 .wpls-fix-box img.wp-post-image{max-height:250px; }\n\t\t<\/style>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wpls-wrap wpls-logo-showcase-slider-wrp wpls-logo-clearfix wpls-design-1 \" data-conf=\"{&quot;slides_column&quot;:4,&quot;slides_scroll&quot;:1,&quot;dots&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;arrows&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay_interval&quot;:3000,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;rtl&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:800,&quot;center_mode&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;lazyload&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-showcase logo_showcase wpls-logo-slider  sliderimage_hide_border \" id=\"wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1\" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roblawmax.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/rmax24.jpg?fit=220%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geeksonwheels.co.nz\/locations\/wellington-computer-repair\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/images.jpg?fit=296%2C170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thecallcentre.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/TCC-Logo-400x260-1.jpg?fit=400%2C260&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.partnersfinance.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/part2.jpg?fit=300%2C195&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bill Fleming<\/strong> was a slashing home-grown midfield back who was a fixture in Wellington club rugby and in Wellington representative squads over several seasons in the second half of the 1950s to the early 1960s. He was later heavily involved with the Upper Hutt club in coaching and administration and is a past Life Member of the Upper Hutt Rams.<\/p>\n<p>Fleming played for unheralded Wellington College Old Boys club team throughout his career, but he almost got his moment of club rugby glory in 1962 when the team had their best season in a long time and finished third in the Jubilee Cup.<\/p>\n<p>William Samuel Fleming attended Wellington College and was in the First XV in his final year of school in 1955 when they won the Quadrangular Tournament outright for the first time since 1937. Wellington College had wins over Christs College (14-5) and Whanganui Collegiate (25-3). That same season, Wellington College beat St Pat\u2019s Town 48-6, but they lost to Silverstream 3-8 who had a powerful side at that time.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30664\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-College-First-XV-1955.jpg?resize=640%2C546&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-College-First-XV-1955.jpg?resize=300%2C256&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-College-First-XV-1955.jpg?resize=768%2C655&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-College-First-XV-1955.jpg?resize=128%2C109&amp;ssl=1 128w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-College-First-XV-1955.jpg?resize=32%2C27&amp;ssl=1 32w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-College-First-XV-1955.jpg?w=900&amp;ssl=1 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Fleming joined WCOB straight out of school and was straight into the Senior A backline in a battling team. He made his competition debut in a round one 3-9 loss to Taita, while a 0-53 loss to Petone several weeks later was the third losing margin by any team in the competition since WW1. Fleming was mentioned in this game for trying to \u201cstem the tries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He returned for his second season in 1957 and was made vice-captain of his club team, with prop R.I Murray the captain. After an early season 6-31 defeat to P\u014dneke, the <em>Rugby Weekly<\/em> published this:<\/p>\n<p><em>WCOB centre W.S. Fleming was a cut above the rest in the Old Boys\u2019 line. He would look pretty good in any club company; he moves beautifully and has the ability to beat a player with a deceptive swerve and sidestep.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>He was recognised as a promising representative player too, because that year he was first selected as a Wellington A representative squad member, playing 14 matches for Wellington in his first season in 1957.<\/p>\n<p>Wellington started 1957 as Ranfurly Shield holders and Fleming scored two tries in their opening defence of the year, a 22-9 win over Bush. Successful defences followed against Poverty Bay and Whanganui before Otago came to town and won 19-11. Fleming was also a try-scorer in that loss. A few weeks later he scored two tries in Wellington\u2019s 22-16 win over Auckland at Eden Park.<\/p>\n<p>He would go on and play another 10 games for Wellington in 1958, 3 in 1959, 10 in 1960 and another two in 1962, for a total of 39 games. He scored 20 tries.<\/p>\n<p>Previewing the 1958 club season, the <em>Rugby Weekly<\/em> wrote: \u201cOld Boys should turn on fireworks if the backs can get the ball in good positions. They could become a glamour side, but the forwards are only terriers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a unique occasion at Athletic Park on 26 April 1958, with a New Zealand-Pakistan hockey test being the curtain-raiser for the 3.15pm club rugby feature match between WCOB and P\u014dneke. Fleming lined up at second-five, with future All Black Ralph Caulton centre for P\u014dneke, who won 11-6.<\/p>\n<p>Six weeks later Fleming and Athletic\u2019s Russell Watt, were singled out in reports for playing well and both also scoring tries in Wellington\u2019s annual Queen\u2019s Birthday match for the Coronation Cup against Manawatu.<\/p>\n<p>Fleming also scored doubles for Wellington in 1958 in their matches against Wairarapa (won 41-3), Bush (won 28-9) and Canterbury (lost 19-22).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30665\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30665\" style=\"width: 841px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-30665\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?resize=640%2C348&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?resize=300%2C163&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?resize=1024%2C556&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?resize=768%2C417&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?resize=1536%2C834&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?resize=128%2C70&amp;ssl=1 128w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?resize=32%2C17&amp;ssl=1 32w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?w=1838&amp;ssl=1 1838w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-Wellington-team-1959.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30665\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bill Fleming and the 1959 Wellington team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere was a lot of class about the work of W.S. Fleming at centre for WCOB,\u201d wrote the Rugby Weekly, following champion team Petone\u2019s 14-8 win over them in the first round in 1959.<\/p>\n<p>Others were noticing too, for in 1959 Fleming was selected as a Junior All Black (New Zealand U23s) and he played in their match against the touring British and Irish Lions in a 9-29 loss in their match at Athletic Park on 2 September 1959. However he was injured part-way through the season and was sidelined for part of that winter and didn\u2019t play the match a month earlier for Wellington against the Lions.<\/p>\n<p>When available, he was playing centre for WCOB, outside inside backs J.W. Lees and B.F Hastings as the team found themselves in the Hardham Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Injury was the likely reason he only played three representative matches for Wellington in 1959.<\/p>\n<p>In 1960, Fleming was back to his best and WCOB made the Jubilee Cup for the first time in 12 years and prospects were looking up. Fleming was captain of the team this season.<\/p>\n<p>The club was struck by injuries in 1961 and were ninth overall with a 4\/10 record.<\/p>\n<p>Dai Haward, in his history of the club, wrote that \u201cin 1962 the Seniors staged a revival coming third in the Jubilee Cup\u2026they provided \u2018real thrills and fine rugby\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuccess was achieved despite the lack of a coach. Gerry [McLean] and vice-captain Bruce Hamilton, becoming player-coaches. We had five Senior reps. Bill Fleming, Gerry McLean, Dan Matheson, Peter Young and Bruce Hamilton while teammate Tom Tamati was in the M\u0101ori team and Wellington B.<\/p>\n<p>The team was in the hunt in the Jubilee Cup in 1962, which was one of the closest in years and all teams were mathematically still in the race until the very end. Onslow and Marist were joint winners on 26 points, followed by University on 21 and WCOB and Petone on 16.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-30663\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-WCOB-v-Marist-lineups-1962.jpg?resize=640%2C288&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-WCOB-v-Marist-lineups-1962.jpg?resize=300%2C135&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-WCOB-v-Marist-lineups-1962.jpg?resize=768%2C346&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-WCOB-v-Marist-lineups-1962.jpg?resize=128%2C58&amp;ssl=1 128w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-WCOB-v-Marist-lineups-1962.jpg?resize=32%2C14&amp;ssl=1 32w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-WCOB-v-Marist-lineups-1962.jpg?resize=364%2C164&amp;ssl=1 364w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-WCOB-v-Marist-lineups-1962.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Marist won 22-8 that day, but WCOB had a first round 9-8 win over Petone a 17-12 win over P\u014dneke, a 15-3 win over Oriental and two draws including a 6-6 draw with University as they flirted with the top sides in the competition.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Rugby Weekly<\/em> also noted this of Fleming in an early season representative game: \u201cIt was great to see Fleming move to zestfully, timing his passes perfectly to Caulton and Sutton.\u201d It was also noted that he linked up to good effect in some rep games (including Wellington B fixtures) with Brian Frederikson.<\/p>\n<p>He played 10 more games for Wellington in 1960, a personal highlight being scoring a another two tries in the home game against Auckland, helping them to a 27-18 win. Auckland won the return match 22-9, which was also a Ranfurly Shield challenge for Wellington.<\/p>\n<p>1962 was his last year playing for WCOB and Wellington. He played for Eastbourne in 1963 and played one match that season for a Wellington XV representing that club.<\/p>\n<p><figure id=\"attachment_30666\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30666\" style=\"width: 754px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-30666\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-inset-WCOB-team-1962.jpg?resize=640%2C369&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-inset-WCOB-team-1962.jpg?resize=300%2C173&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-inset-WCOB-team-1962.jpg?resize=768%2C443&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-inset-WCOB-team-1962.jpg?resize=128%2C74&amp;ssl=1 128w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-inset-WCOB-team-1962.jpg?resize=32%2C18&amp;ssl=1 32w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-inset-WCOB-team-1962.jpg?w=950&amp;ssl=1 950w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30666\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bill Fleming [inset] and the WCOB team in 1962.<\/figcaption><\/figure>He then went over to the Wairarapa and he played for Wairarapa-Bush in 1965.<\/p>\n<p>In total, Fleming played 62 first-class matches, scoring 32 tries and 102 points.<\/p>\n<p>Involved with Upper Hutt, he was that club\u2019s Premier coach with Butch Harawira in 1986, and the club President in 1992.<\/p>\n<p>The Team included 2000 Wellington Lions and later Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, along with Wellington and New Zealand Maori representative Issac Adams and Sam McLean who played 37 first-class matches and was still at school when he made his representative debut for East Coast in 1983 and who went on to coach the Upper Hutt Premier side in 1992.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Fleming passed away on 3 October 2014.<\/p>\n<p><strong>REFERENCES <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.<\/li>\n<li>Hayward, Dai. Follow Up. 100 Years of Wellington College Old Boys\u2019 Rugby Football Club. WCOB, Wellington 1998.<\/li>\n<li>Minogue, Peter B. Champagne Rugby. The Story of Secondary School Rugby in New Zealand<\/li>\n<li>Rugby Weeklys \u2013 Various editions 1950s and 1960s.<\/li>\n<li>Veysey, Alex and Fox, Bob. Wellington\u2019s Rugby History 1951-1979, Part 2. Tolan Printing Co, 1979.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2 .wpls-fix-box,\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2 .wpls-fix-box img.wp-post-image{max-height:250px; }\n\t\t<\/style>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wpls-wrap wpls-logo-showcase-slider-wrp wpls-logo-clearfix wpls-design-1 \" data-conf=\"{&quot;slides_column&quot;:4,&quot;slides_scroll&quot;:1,&quot;dots&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;arrows&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay_interval&quot;:3000,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;rtl&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:800,&quot;center_mode&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;lazyload&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-showcase logo_showcase wpls-logo-slider  sliderimage_hide_border \" id=\"wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2\" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roblawmax.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/rmax24.jpg?fit=220%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geeksonwheels.co.nz\/locations\/wellington-computer-repair\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/images.jpg?fit=296%2C170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thecallcentre.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/TCC-Logo-400x260-1.jpg?fit=400%2C260&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.partnersfinance.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/part2.jpg?fit=300%2C195&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Fleming was a slashing home-grown midfield back who was a fixture in Wellington club rugby and in Wellington representative squads over several seasons in the second half of the 1950s to the early 1960s. He was later heavily involved with the Upper Hutt club in coaching and administration and is a past Life Member&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,60,19,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-club-rugby","category-latest-club-rugby-news","category-representative-rugby","category-rugby-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bill-Fleming-headline-photo.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbDiON-7Yx","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30667,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30661\/revisions\/30667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}