Bert Cooke [All Black #292]
 Educated Hamilton East Primary and Hamilton Boys’ High School. Played rugby league for a Post and Telegraph team after leaving school. Joined the Grafton club and represented Auckland 4th grade 1919. Graduated to senior club rugby 1923, represented Auckland and was a reserve for the All Blacks against New South Wales in that season.
On the 1924-25 tour he played magnificently, scoring 23 tries (the highest tally) in 25 appearances for the ‘Invincibles’. In 1925 he contributed two of the eight tries scored by New Zealand in a 36-10 victory over New South Wales, and then toured Australia with the 1926 All Blacks. Following the 1927 trials, Cooke was selected to tour South Africa the following year but withdrew for business reasons and was replaced by Syd Carleton. However, he did play twice for New Zealand in 1928, against a New South Wales touring side. His last appearances for his country were the four tests against the 1930 British Isles team, finishing with two tries in the fourth test characteristically both scored as a result of his speed in following his own kicks over the line. Cooke played in the 1931 interisland game but was not selected to play against Australia. His last first-class game of rugby was for Hawke’s Bay v Wairarapa, June 3, 1932, before joining the Richmond rugby league club in Auckland. Represented New Zealand in league against the1932 British team and the 1935 Australians. After the outbreak of WWII, he joined the air force and again played rugby for that service in the 1940 Auckland club competition. In his first-class career Cooke scored 121 tries in 131 matches. Bert Cooke’s great pace off the mark, his accurate punting and ability to recover a short kick ahead, as well as his remarkable capacity to turn the slightest vestige of a chance into a try made his name a household word during his career. Although slightly built, weighing 9st 12lb and standing 5′ 9″, he was also a fine defensive player. R.A. Byers-Barr in a 1924 tour booklet described him as “the most brilliant back in the All Black team. As swift as a hare; as elusive as a shadow; strikes like lightning, flashes with brilliancy, Cooke is the shining star of the side. He is meteoric in method; penetrates like a bayonet-point, and thrusts like steel. Cooke is Eclipse! . . . He is faster and more elusive than any back in England or Wales today.” Profile by Bob Luxford |
| FULL NAME | Albert Edward Cooke |
| BORN | Saturday, 5 October 1901 in Auckland, New Zealand |
| DIED | Thursday, 29 September 1977 in Auckland |
| PHYSICAL | 1.75m, 61.6kg |
| POSITION | Second five-eighth and centre three-quarter |
| LAST SCHOOL | Hamilton Boys’ High |
| RUGBY CLUB (First made All Blacks from) |
Grafton |
| PROVINCES | Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington |
| ALL BLACK DEBUT | Saturday, 5 July 1924 v N.S.W. at Sydney aged 22 years, 274 days |
| INTERNATIONAL DEBUT | Saturday, 1 November 1924 v Ireland at Dublin aged 23 years, 27 days |
| LAST TEST | Saturday, 9 August 1930 v British & Irish Lions at Wellington aged 28 years, 308 days |
| ALL BLACK TESTS | 8 |
| ALL BLACK GAMES | 36 |
| TOTAL ALL BLACK MATCHES | 44 |
| STARTING POSITIONS | Jersey Number 12 : 4
Jersey Number 13 : 4 |
| ALL BLACK TEST POINTS | 12pts (4t, 0c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
| ALL BLACK GAME POINTS | 111pts (35t, 3c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
| TOTAL ALL BLACK POINTS | 123pts (39t, 3c, 0p, 0dg, 0m) |
| ALL BLACK NUMBER | 292 |
ALL BLACK GAMES THAT COOKE PLAYED(+) = substitute; (-) = replaced |
| Click on the date below to view the Match Card |
1924 |
| 5 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 16-20 |
| 12 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 21-5 |
| 16 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 38-8 |
| 26 Jul vs Manawatu-Horowhenua at Palmerston North 27-12 |
| 13 Sep vs Devon at Devonport 11-0 |
| 18 Sep vs Cornwall at Camborne 29-0 |
| 20 Sep vs Somerset at Weston-super-Mare 6-0 |
| 27 Sep vs Swansea at Swansea 39-3 |
| 2 Oct vs Newport at Newport 13-10 |
| 8 Oct vs North Midlands at Birmingham 40-3 |
| 22 Oct vs Lancashire at Manchester 23-0 |
| 25 Oct vs Cumberland at Carlisle 41-0 |
| 1 Nov vs Ireland at Dublin 6-0 |
| 5 Nov vs Ulster at Belfast 28-6 |
| 8 Nov vs Northumberland at Gosforth 27-4 |
| 15 Nov vs London Counties at London 31-6 |
| 20 Nov vs Oxford University at Oxford 33-15 |
| 22 Nov vs Cardiff at Cardiff 16-8 |
| 29 Nov vs Wales at Swansea 19-0 |
| 2 Dec vs Llanelli at Llanelli 8-3 |
| 6 Dec vs East Midlands at Northampton 31-7 |
| 13 Dec vs Combined Services at London 25-3 |
| 17 Dec vs Hampshire at Portsmouth 22-0 |
| 27 Dec vs London Counties at London 28-3 |
1925 |
| 3 Jan vs England at London 17-11 |
| 11 Jan vs Selection Francais at Paris 37-8 |
| 18 Jan vs France at Toulouse 30-6 |
| 14 Feb vs Vancouver at Vancouver 49-0 |
| 18 Feb vs Victoria (B.C.) at Vancouver Island 68-4 |
| 19 Sep vs N.S.W. at Auckland 36-10 |
1926 |
| 10 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 20-26 |
| 14 Jul vs A N.S.W. XV at Sydney 31-14 |
| 17 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 11-6 |
| 20 Jul vs N.S.W. at Sydney 14-0 |
| 24 Jul vs Victoria at Melbourne 58-15 |
| 29 Jul vs A N.S.W. XV at Sydney 28-21 (-) |
1928 |
| 5 Sep vs N.S.W. at Wellington 15-12 |
| 8 Sep vs N.S.W. at Dunedin 16-14 |
| 12 Sep vs West Coast-Buller at Greymouth 40-3 |
1930 |
| 18 Jun vs North Otago at Oamaru 34-6 |
| 21 Jun vs British & Irish Lions at Dunedin 3-6 |
| 5 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Christchurch 13-10 |
| 26 Jul vs British & Irish Lions at Auckland 15-10 |
| 9 Aug vs British & Irish Lions at Wellington 22-8 |
POINTS SCORED FOR THE ALL BLACKS |
t | c | p | dg | pts |
| vs N.S.W., 5 Jul 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs N.S.W., 12 Jul 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs N.S.W., 16 Jul 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Manawatu-Horowhenua, 26 Jul 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Devon, 13 Sep 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Cornwall, 18 Sep 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Somerset, 20 Sep 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Swansea, 27 Sep 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs North Midlands, 8 Oct 1924 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| vs Lancashire, 22 Oct 1924 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| vs Cumberland, 25 Oct 1924 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| vs Ulster, 5 Nov 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Northumberland, 8 Nov 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs London Counties, 15 Nov 1924 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| vs Oxford University, 20 Nov 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs East Midlands, 6 Dec 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Hampshire, 17 Dec 1924 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Selection Francais, 11 Jan 1925 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs France, 18 Jan 1925 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| vs Vancouver, 14 Feb 1925 | 3 | – | – | – | 9 |
| vs Victoria (B.C.), 18 Feb 1925 | 1 | 2 | – | – | 7 |
| vs N.S.W., 19 Sep 1925 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| vs N.S.W., 20 Jul 1926 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs Victoria, 24 Jul 1926 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 8 |
| vs A N.S.W. XV, 29 Jul 1926 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs N.S.W., 5 Sep 1928 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs West Coast-Buller, 12 Sep 1928 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs North Otago, 18 Jun 1930 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| vs British & Irish Lions, 9 Aug 1930 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| Totals | 39 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 123 |
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TEST RECORD BY NATION |
P | W | D | L | t | c | p | dg | pts |
| British & Irish Lions | 4 | 3 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| England | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| France | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | 6 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wales | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Totals | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
