This is one of a series of posts to mark the international Rugby players who served in, and survived, The Great War. If anyone has further information on the men concerned, I’d be most grateful if it could be added to the thread. Gareth Belliss, Ernest Arthur (‘Moke’) played for New Zealand Internationals: 3 : 1921 SA+ (1t) SA- SA= Ernest Belliss was born on 1 April 1894 in Palmerston North Played as a No 8/Flanker for: Moawhanga Huia, Wanganui, Hautapu, North Island Profession: Butcher/farmer Remarks: Played for the New Zealand Army in the 1919 King’s Cup tournament. New Zealand tours to Australia in 1920 (he played in all eight games and scored five tries) and 1922, the latter tour as captain. In 1923 he played against the touring NSW team. Belliss was expected to be named as captain of the 1924 New Zealand touring team to Europe, but was outplayed in a selection trial by Cliff Porter. His son E V ‘Jack’ Belliss and grandson Peter Belliss both represented Wanganui. Grandson Peter Belliss won three World Lawn Bowls titles between 1984 and 2000. War service: 23/1937, Rifleman He died on 22 April 1974 in Taihape.
The Wanganui rugby union was formed in 1888, and by 1889 included clubs from lower Rangitīkei, Hunterville and Waverley. The Taihape sub-union formed in 1903, and Ruapehu in 1908. Ruapehu transferred to King Country in 1922 but rejoined Wanganui in 1970. In 2006 and 2007, Wanganui was runner-up in the Meads Cup in the Heartland Championship. Seventeen All Blacks have been selected from the Wanganui rugby football union, including Moke Belliss, Peter Henderson and Bill Osborne. http://www.teara.govt.nz/Places/Wanganui/Wanganui/12/en Inducted into the Wanganui Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. “Players of his era ranked him with the world’s best” was the way radio commentator Winston McCarthy wrote about the Wanganui 1922 All Black captain. Belliss, who played 20 times for New Zealand, six as captain on the 1922 All Black tour of Australia, and played three tests in the drawn series against the 1921 touring Springboks, was regarded as one of the best wing forwards of his time. The NZ Rugby Museum claims he was the equivalent of a Waka Nathan or Wayne Shelford. Moke Belliss, the grandfather of Peter Belliss, multiple world lawn bowls champion who also played rep rugby for Wanganui as a loose forward, represented Wanganui 44 times between 1914 and 1931. He played for Moawhango Huia in the Taihape sub-union. During his rugby career, which included being a key member of the NZ Army side that won the Kings Cup tournament in England and toured South Africa, Moke Belliss played in 98 first class games. He was in outstanding form in the scoreless drawn final test against the Springboks at Athletic Park in 1921, playing most of the match with a broken thumb. His son Jack was to become a key member of the Wanganui representative team to be followed by his grandson Peter and great-grandson Paul. http://www.wanganui.govt.nz/SportsHallOfFame/Inductees/MokeBelliss.asp
