William Ford

Popularly known by his nickname, "Jockey," because of his small size (he was not much more than 1.65m and weighed about 65kg), William Ford was a leading Canterbury wing of the 1920s, though in his early years in club rugby he had been a halfback.

He came to his initial rugby prominence as a member of the New Zealand Services team which at the end of World War I won the Kings Cup in England and then became the first team from New Zealand to tour South Africa in 1919. Ford played 33 matches for the services team.

He entered New Zealand first class rugby with Canterbury in 1920 and from that season until 1926 played 37 times for the union, which for those years was a high representation tally.

The highlight of his career for Canterbury was the 1921 match against the Springboks when he scored a try which enabled the province to upset the tourists 6-4. He played for both the South island and in the All Black trials in 1921 and while missing out in the series against the Springboks made the selection which met New South Wales at Lancaster Park.

He was included in the All Black side which toured Australia in 1922 playing in four of the five matches in that country including the two unofficial internationals against New South Wales. He scored twice against the NSW second XV, his only tries in Australia, but got three on the return home against a Manawatu-Wellington XV and two against New Zealand Maori.

Ford's last match for the All Blacks was against NSW in 1923 at Lancaster Park, where he was a special favourite for despite his lack of physique he was always a brave defender and with his pace and nippiness a spirited attacker.

However, he was injured in this match and forced from the field and though he continued in first class rugby for another three years was not considered for All Black selection again. He was in his early 30s when he retired, having played about 80 first class matches in all.

Profile by Lindsay Knight
for the New Zealand Rugby Museum.