Billy Stead - Playing Career

Playing Career

Stead first played representative rugby for Southland in 1896. He was only 18 at the time, and continued to play for the province until 1908; raking up 52 matches for the province in total. After representing the South Island in 1903, he was selected for the All Blacks that year. Although he did tour with the team to Australia, he did not play in a test until the following year. In his first test against Great Britain in 1904, Stead captained the side. He was again selected for the All Blacks the following year for their northern hemisphere tour. Although he did not participate in the preliminary tour of Australia due to work commitments, Stead did play against Canterbury and then Wellington for the All Blacks.

Dave Gallaher was named as the tour captain, with Stead as vice captain. On the voyage to Britain, both Gallaher and Stead resigned as captain and vice captain respectively. They had both been appointed by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), and believed that the players should have a say in the choice of captain. Although the teams' manager refused to accept the resignations, the team still took a vote; going 17-12 in favour of endorsing the NZRFU's selections. The tour was highly successful for Stead as he established himself as one of New Zealand's greatest ever first-fives.

Stead participated in 29 of the Originals' matches. Although he only scored 11 tries for the team, his ability to set up tries for other players was vital. Jimmy Hunter, who scored 44 tries on tour, said to Stead at the Originals' 50 year reunion, "Without you I was nothing". Stead was considered a master tactician, and him missing the Originals' Wales Test was considered a major factor in their only loss.

Before the squad departed Britain for North America, Stead and Gallaher were approached by a publisher to author a book on rugby tactics and play. They were each paid £50 each and completed the book in less than two weeks. The book, The Complete Rugby Footballer was mainly authored by Stead, a bootmaker, with Gallaher contributing most of the diagrams. The book is regarded as one of the most influential in rugby literature.

After the Originals' tour, Stead's next All Blacks match was not until 1908 when he captained them twice against the Anglo-Welsh. After this he went into semi-retirement, but was persuaded to play for the New Zealand Maori in 1910. He played 13 matches in their tour of Australia.