George Nepia

Ngāti Kahungunu

1908 - 1986



George Nepia was born in Nuhaka, and raised in Wairoa and Nuhaka. He was educated at the Māori Agricultural College in Hastings and later worked as a famer in Rangitukia and went on to refrigeration assembly work in Masterton. In 1926 he married Huinga Raupani Kohere and they had four children. Nepia became a legendary rugby player and played for the All Blacks in 1924-25, 1929, 1930 and 1935. He went on to play professional rugby league in England. In later life he lived in Ruatoria with his son Arapeta Haerga. Michael Romanos, who conducted a 11-hour interview with Nepia in 1985, noted that Nepia took two years to write "I, George Nepia" which was published in 1963. Romanos adds that Nepia was ‘in the process of updating the book for a third edition in the 1970s but his material was mistakenly destroyed’.

Biographical sources

  • Romanos, Michael. "Nepia Was The Supreme NZ Whizz-Kid: Rugby Great Reveals His True Age." Tu Tangata 27 (1985/86): 34-40.

    Biography

  • I, George Nepia: The Golden Years of Rugby. By George Nepia and Terry McLean. Wellington, N.Z.: Reed, 1963.
  • Traditional

  • Whaanga, Philip. "Poroporoaki mo George Nepia." Tu Tangata 32 (Oct./Nov. 1986): n.p.

    Other

  • Romanos, Michael. "Nepia Was The Supreme NZ Whizz-Kid: Rugby Great Reveals His True Age." Tu Tangata 27 (1985/1986): 34-40.
  • This comprehensive biography of George Nepia was drawn from an eleven hour interview with Michael Romanos at the Ruatoria Hotel in 1985 when Nepia was 77 years old.
  • Walker, Nikki. "Māori Biographies Compiled by George F Kiwi Howe 1960." Te Iwi o Aotearoa 27 (Nov. 1989): 20.
  • Reviews

    I, George Nepia: The Golden Years of Rugby
  • Nepia, E. H. Te Ao Hou 45 (1963): 57.
  • Traditional

  • A tribute to the great sporting legend George Nepia.