Born: c.1935 Died: 27 October, 1969 Test record: 2 Tests (1960-61) – 1 try (3 points) Tours: 1960 World Cup
Front-rower Tom Reid represented New Zealand in 1960-61 from West Coast and Auckland.
The Ngahere player represented West Coast before earning a World Cup squad call-up in 1960. Reid was chosen to replace Henry Maxwell at prop for the Kiwis’ last match of the tournament and scored their only try in a 9-0 win over France at Wigan.
Reid subsequently featured in tour matches against Halifax, a French XIII and a French Selection.
After moving to Auckland with the Glenora club in 1961, Reid had a strong game for North Island Māori against Australia and was later called into New Zealand’s second-Test team at hooker for the injured Jock Butterfield.
The tourists squared the series with a tense 10-8 win, but Reid enjoyed a victory over Australia two days later as his Auckland side prevailed 13-8. However, he was overlooked for the Kiwis’ tour of Britain and France at the end of the year.
Reid was a New Zealand representative axeman, but tragically he died in a car accident in 1969 while working as a fisherman in Southland.