Full name | Robert Stanley Black | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 24 August 1893 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Arrowtown, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 21 September 1916 | (aged 23)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Somme, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Otago Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Bank clerk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Military career |
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Memorialised at | Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service/branch | New Zealand Army | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 1915–16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | Private | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service number | 9/2048 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unit |
Otago Mounted Rifles Canterbury Regiment |
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Battles/wars | Battle of the Somme |
Position(s) | First five-eighth | ||
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New Zealand No. | 211 | ||
Provincial / State sides | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
1911–14, 1915 1914 |
Otago Buller |
12 2 |
(0) |
National team(s) | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
1914 | New Zealand | 1 | () |
Robert Stanley "Bobby" Black (24 August 1893 – 21 September 1916) was a New Zealand rugby union player. A first five-eighth, Black represented Otago and Buller at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, on their 1914 tour of Australia. He played six matches for the All Blacks on that tour, including one international.
Black enlisted in the Otago Mounted Rifles in November 1915 and, after transferring to the Canterbury Regiment, saw active service in the Battle of the Somme. He was killed in action on 21 September 1916, and he is memorialised on the Caterpillar Valley (New Zealand) Memorial, which commemorates over 1200 New Zealand soldiers who died in the Battles of the Somme in 1916 for whom there is no known grave.