Jimmy Duncan

Who was Jimmy Duncan?

James Duncan was a New Zealand rugby union footballer, coach and referee. He was born in Dunedin, New Zealand. He appeared for Otago before being selected to play for New Zealand in 1897. He captained New Zealand for the first time against Wellington in 1901. He captained New Zealand in its first Test, against Australia, in 1903. That was also his last game for New Zealand. Duncan then moved to coaching, coaching New Zealand in its first home test, against Great Britain, in 1904. In 1905 he was selected to coach the New Zealand team to tour the Northern Hemisphere. His appointment as coach was unpopular, and most of the coaching ended up being done by team members Billy Stead and Dave Gallaher instead. In 1908 he refereed a Test between New Zealand and the Anglo-Welsh.

Duncan is credited with naming the position "five-eight"; as there was already positions half-back and three-quarters, he came up with the name according to the fraction between them.