Born: November 25, 1931 – Te Awamutu
Died: January 1, 2013 – Auckland
Test record: 13 Tests (1957-61) – 2 tries (6 points)
Tours: 1957 World Cup, 1959 tour of Australia, 1960 World Cup

Auckland centre George Turner played 13 Tests for New Zealand from 1957-61 and was a tremendous servant of the New Zealand Māori team for a decade.

A staple for the North Shore club as a teenager, Turner represented New Zealand Māori against the American All Stars as a centre (1953) and against Great Britain (1954) and France (1955) as a stand-off. He debuted for Auckland in 1956 and scored 13 tries in 13 games on New Zealand Māori’s tour of Australia – including four against Monaro.

Turner’s maiden Kiwis call-up came for the 1957 World Cup. The 25-year-old lined up in the centres alongside Bill Sorensen against France and Great Britain, scoring a try in New Zealand’s 29-21 victory at the SCG in the latter.

Turner subsequently played in both Tests of the drawn 1958 home series against the Lions, and two of the three Tests on the 1959 tour of Australia as he and Cyril Eastlake matched up against the crack pairing of Reg Gasnier and Harry Wells.

After featuring in New Zealand’s 2-0 series win over the French tourists and all three World Cup matches in England (including a tryscoring performance in the loss to Australia) in 1960, Turner rounded out his Test career in the drawn two-match series against Australia on home soil in 1961 – again tangling with Gasnier.

Turner also played in Auckland’s win over Australia in 1961, and for New Zealand Māori against Australia in 1961 and Great Britain in 1962.