Peter "Sammy" Henderson (born 18 April 1926) is a former New Zealand All Black rugby test player who was banned by officialdom for 38 years for signing to join with the professional rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 in England
in 1950.
Born in Gisborne

Gisborne, New Zealand

-Economy:The harbour was host to many ships in the past and had developed as a river port to provide a more secure location for shipping compared with the open roadstead of Poverty Bay which can be exposed to southerly swells. A meat works was sited beside the harbour and meat and wool was shipped...

 but moving to Wanganui

Wanganui

Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....

 at a young age, Henderson excelled in several sports, including sprinting where he won a bronze medal at the 1950 British Empire Games

1950 British Empire Games

The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth edition of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between the 4th and 11th of February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the 3rd edition of the games...

 held in Auckland.

Henderson was a dental technician in Wanganui where he played rugby union for the Kaierau Club, and 26 representative matches for the Wanganui Rugby Football Union

Wanganui Rugby Football Union

The Wanganui Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Wanganui region of New Zealand. The Wanganui Rugby Football Union was formed in 1888....

. He was a medium sized winger, 1.72m and 81 kg, but is still credited with being one of the fastest All Blacks of all time He was a member of the ill-fated 1949 All Blacks side, captained by Fred Allen, which lost all four tests on its tour of South Africa. Henderson was top try scorer on the tour, with seven tries.

Following his return from South Africa he had little time to change sports and get into serious sprint training for the Empire Games. He won the bronze medal as part of the men's 4 x 110 yard relay alongside Keith Beardsley

Keith Beardsley

Keith Beardsley is a former New Zealand sprinter.At the 1950 British Empire Games he won the bronze medal as part of the men's 4 x 110 yard relay alongside Arthur Eustace, Peter Henderson and Clem Parker. He also competed in the 100 yards where he placed 6th in his semi-final.-References:...

, Arthur Eustace

Arthur Eustace

Arthur Eustace is a former New Zealand sprinter.At the 1950 British Empire Games he won the bronze medal as part of the men's 4 x 110 yard relay alongside Keith Beardsley, Peter Henderson and Clem Parker...

 and Clem Parker

Clem Parker

Clement Parker is a former New Zealand sprinter.At the 1950 British Empire Games he won the bronze medal as part of the men's 4 x 110 yard relay alongside Keith Beardsley, Arthur Eustace and Peter Henderson...

. He also competed in the 100 yards where he placed 5th in the final.

Henderson returned to club and representative rugby in Wanganui, playing three tests against the touring British Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 in 1950, and against them for Wanganui.

Henderson had lost his job while playing in South Africa, so he announced he was headed to England to play in the professional league. It was then that the Rugby Union banned him from union, a ban which lasted 38 years. He signed with Huddersfield

Huddersfield Giants

Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....

 where he stayed for seven years, playing in the 1953 Challenge Cup

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....

 final at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of about 90,000 fans. He also played for the Other Internationals side which won the 1953 tri-nations test series against England and France.

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