Career Record: Played 16, Won 13, Lost 3
Test Points: 0.
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1975 v Scotland (Auckland) W 24-0
1976 v South Africa (R) (Bloemfontein) W 15-9
1976 v South Africa (R) (Joburg) L 15-14
1977 v British Lions (Wellington) W 16-12
1977 v British Lions (Christchurch) L 13-9
1977 v British Lions (Dunedin) W 19-7
1977 v British Lions (Auckland) W 10-9
1977 v France (R) (Toulouse) L 18-13
1977 v France (Paris) W 15-3
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1978 v Ireland (Dublin) W 10-6
1978 v Wales (Cardiff) W 13-12
1978 v England (Twickenham) W 16-6
1978 v Scotland (Murrayfield) W 18-9
1980 v Wales (Cardiff) W 23-3
1982 v Australia (Christchurch) W 23-16
1982 v Australia (Auckland) W 33-18
Bill's sixteen International caps were
spread over a seven year period, with the
most consecutive games he played being
six between 18th September 1976 (15-14
defeat v South Africa) and 19th November
1977 (15-3 win v France).
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Bill Osborne in action for New Zealand on 1st October 1978. Photo G. Herringshaw. ©
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After a fine junior career, Bill Osborne's All Black debut came in a match that almost never happened - the 1975 home test against Scotland. In the days leading up to the game, Auckland was hit by severe rainstorms and large parts of the Eden Park pitch resembled a lake, bringing the contest into doubt right until the last minute. New Zealand, playing in unfamiliar white shirts, coped with the waterlogged conditions much better than their Scottish counterparts and won 24-0. The stockily built 20 year old did enough in that game to warrant selection for the trip to South Africa the year after and enjoyed a good tour, coming on as a replacement in two of the four tests.
In 1977 Bill cemented his place in the side and played in six consecutive internationals against the British Lions and France, forming an excellent centre partnership with Bruce Robertson in the process. One of the individual highlights was his garryowen in the fourth test that caused mayhem in the Lions defence and allowed Laurie Knight to score the try that sealed the series. He also toured the UK in the latter part of 1978 and took part in all four victories over the Home Unions, helping set up Robertson for the winning try against Scotland after Doug Bruce had charged down a drop goal attempt. From 1979 onwards Bill's career was characterised by a sequence of injuries, retirements and comebacks and his appearances for New Zealand were infrequent.
His last match was against the Aussies in 1982, though as late as 1985 he was still considered good enough to earn selection for the tour to South Africa. Bill did not score any tries at international level, but this was perhaps because his main qualities were his tackling and support play, which saw him have a hand in many of New Zealand's best moves. His nephew, Glen Osborne, played for New Zealand between 1995 and 1999. (Jon Collins)
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