Born: June 9, 1938
Died: December 30, 2021
Test record: 2 Tests (1961) – 0 points
Tours: 1961-62 tour of Britain and France

Wellington fullback Billy Harrison toured Britain and France with the 1961-62 Kiwis alongside his older brother, Auckland forward Rata.

The long-serving Korodale player represented Wellington against France in 1960 and Australia in 1961. He benefitted from Test incumbent Gary Phillips’ withdrawal from the latter season’s trip abroad over pay conditions, with Harrison selected alongside Auckland fullback Jack Fagan.

Harrison debuted for New Zealand with his brother in a win over Castleford-Featherstone but was impacted by injury during the English leg of the tour. Nevertheless, he replaced Fagan in the Kiwis’ line-up for the deciding third Test against Great Britain at Station Road, a 35-19 loss, and played in the 6-all draw in the series opener against France in Bordeaux.

He was fated not to represent the Kiwis again but starred for New Zealand Māori against Great Britain in 1962 (again playing with Rata), and turned out for Wellington against South Africa (1963), Australia (1965) and Great Britain (1966).

Harrison embarked on a player-coach stint with NSW country club Cooma Rovers in the late-1960s and returned to Wellington as player-coach for Upper Hutt from 1970-75.