Background
Duncan McGregor was the son of Alexander McGregor and his wife Barbara McGregor, née Gudex. Duncan was born on 16 July 1881 at Kaiapoi. His father Alexander McGregor was a railway worker, working for the New Zealand Railways Department.
rugby league player rugby union player
Duncan McGregor was the son of Alexander McGregor and his wife Barbara McGregor, née Gudex. Duncan was born on 16 July 1881 at Kaiapoi. His father Alexander McGregor was a railway worker, working for the New Zealand Railways Department.
He stayed in Britain following the 1907-1908 tour, and opened a sport store as well as playing for Merthyr Tydfil RLFC. He returned to New Zealand after five years and continued to be involved in rugby league as an administrator and official McGregor made his provincial rugby union debut playing for Canterbury in 1900 when he was just 19. In 1902 he had a stellar season, scoring 17 tries for Canterbury and 2 for South Island in just 10 first class matches.
He transferred to Wellington in 1904 due to his employment taking him to Petone, there he joined the Petone Rugby Club and was later one of six players from the club that made the 1907-1908 tour.
McGregor represented Wellington and the North Island and retained his place in the All Blacks in 1904 and in 1905 was selected for the All Blacks tour of Great Britain. While on tour, the British press dubbed him the "Flying Scotsman" in recognition of his speed.
While on tour he scored four times in one match in a Test match against the English. In all first class rugby union McGregor scored 66 tries in just 59 games.
In 1907 McGregor joined the professional New Zealand team that toured Great Britain and Australia.
This team played the sport now known as rugby league. He was a strong supporter of the tour from the outset and was one of the tours selectors, served on the tours Management committee and had a role in coaching the backs. However, while on tour, he could not consistently make the first team and played in many of the mid-week games.
McGregor only ended up playing in one of the eight test matches on tour.
He opted not to return to New Zealand, instead staying behind in Great Britain to open a sports store in Gloucestershire and sign with the Merthyr Tydfil club In 1912 he suffered an ankle injury and retired from the game, opting to return to New Zealand.
After returning to New Zealand McGregor stayed involved with rugby league, becoming a referee and a national selector. He died 11th March 1947 in Timaru, and is buried at Timaru Cemetery, Timaru.
He was a member of the legendary 1905 Original All Blacks and later converted to rugby league when he went on the 1907 New Zealand league tour of Britain and Australia. In 1920 he was made a life member of the New Zealand Rugby League.