Patrick Keogh

Patrick Keogh

Date of birth	ca. 1867
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Date of death	12 March 1940 (aged 72–73)
Place of death	Seacliff, New Zealand
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)[1]
School	Christian Brothers School, Dunedin
Occupation(s)	Brass moulder
Rugby union career
Position(s) Half-back Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1884–91 Kaikorai Rugby Football Club () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1887–91 Otago 12[1] () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1888–89 New Zealand Native team 44 (54)

Patrick Keogh, also known as Pat Keogh or Paddy Keogh, (c. 1867 – 12 March 1940)^[2] was a New Zealand rugby union footballer who toured with the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team. Playing at half-back, Keogh was considered the star player on the tour, which was the first by a Southern Hemisphere team to the British Isles. He played in at least 70 of the team's 107 matches in the British Isles, Australia and New Zealand. After playing for Dunedin club Kaikorai from 1884, he was selected to represent his province of Otago from 1887, and played for them against the touring British Isles team in 1888. By this time Keogh had established himself as the outstanding half-back in New Zealand, and he was approached by Joe Warbrick to tour with the Native team in mid-1888.

Keogh was a controversial figure in the sport; he was accused of "playing stiff" in a match against Queensland but the allegations were dismissed, however in 1891 he was banned from rugby due to a separate incident where he was found to have gambled at the game. He was reinstated in 1895, but by this time his rugby career was over. Despite having never played for New Zealand, his reputation was such that in 1917, when discussing the declining standards of New Zealand rugby's back-play, an anonymous former representative player wrote that Keogh "was probably the greatest half-back the rugby world has ever produced. His success was due entirely to his versatility in methods."^[3] Keogh was a brass moulder, and his later life was characterised by mental illness. He died in Seacliff Lunatic Asylum in 1940, after spending much of the last 20 years of his life institutionalised there.