User:Nepialegs/Patrick Joseph Bourke Crowley

Patrick Joseph Bourke Crowley (Born 20 October 1923, Died 9 June 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union player who represented Auckland and the New Zealand All Blacks.

Crowley was educated at St Patrick's College, Silverstream as a boarder from Wanganui, proving to be a talented sportsman, making the First XI cricket team for two years and the First XV in his final year, where he played as an outstanding loose forward.

He served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in World War II. Strong, tough and athletic, he blossomed into one of Auckland's best loose forwards in the early post-war years. He played with consistent distinction for his province, for the North Island and the All Blacks for many years.

Crowley played 21 times for the All Blacks - a strong man in South Africa for the 1949 series, and a star of the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand the following year.

Following retirement he farmed at Pokeno, south of Auckland.