Born: January 6, 1893 - Auckland
Died: May 19, 1967 - Auckland
Test record: 7 Tests (1914, 1919, 1920) - 4 tries, 11 goals (34 points)
Tours: 1913 tour of Australia, 1919 tour of Australia
Brilliant Auckland back Karl Ifwersen holds the distinction of being the first dual international to represent New Zealand in rugby league before rugby union.
Ifwersen played rugby union for Grafton and College Rifles, debuting for Auckland as a teenager in 1912. He switched codes the following season with North Shore Albions and starred on New Zealand's 1913 tour of Australia, scoring eight tries and kicking 25 goals in eight games.
Later that year he was in the centres in two matches for New Zealand on home soil against a star-studded NSW side.
Ifwersen moved to Grafton Athletic and kicked two goals in New Zealand's 16-13 one-off Test loss to Northern Union in Auckland in 1914, having also played against the English tourists for Auckland a week earlier.
A dominant force on the Auckland club scene during the WWI years, he also served in the army and starred in services rugby.
Regarded as arguably New Zealand's most gifted footballer in either code during the era, Ifwersen went on the 1919 tour of Australia and scored 10 tries in nine games, as well as kicking 20 goals. He then lined up in the centres and captained New Zealand in all four home Tests against Australia later that year.
Ifwersen scored all three of New Zealand's tries in the opening Test loss at the Basin Reserve, while he kicked two goals in 26-10 win in the second Test in Christchurch. He booted another three goals in the 34-23 defeat in the third Test and kicked New Zealand's only points in a 32-2 loss in the fourth, both played in Auckland.
In 1920, Ifwersen kicked a goal in the 31-7 series-opening loss to visiting England, missed the second Test through injury and returned to score a try in the 11-10 defeat in the third encounter.
Having resisted overtures from rugby union following the post-war amnesty on rugby league players switching back, Ifwersen returned to rugby union in 1921 and captained a combined Auckland-North Auckland team against South Africa. He scored their only try to propel him into the New Zealand team for the third Test, lining up at second five-eighth in the scoreless draw at a flooded Athletic Park.
Auckland's star attraction in subsequent seasons, Ifwersen was prevented from taking his place in the All Blacks' 'Invincibles' squad for the 1924-25 tour due to the British authorities' objections to hosting ex-rugby league players. He continued to play in Auckland and the Thames Valley region until 1930.
Revered by players and pundits in both codes for decades after hanging up the boots, Ifwersen was inducted into the NZRL Legends of League in 2000.
Following the advent of professionalism in rugby union, Sonny Bill Williams became New Zealand's next league-first dual international in 2010 - 89 years after Ifwersen played for the All Blacks.