Tom Pauling (rugby union, born 1873)

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Tom Pauling (Thomas Gibson Pauling) was a New Zealand rugby union forward born on 17 June 1873 in Doyleston, Canterbury. He played for the Wellington club Athletic and debuted for New Zealand in 1896 during a visit from Queensland. He was part of New Zealand’s 1897 tour of Australia, scoring four tries in eight appearances. To join the tour, he left his job as a saddler and later settled in Sydney, where he worked as a police officer. In Sydney he played for Randwick and earned New South Wales representative honors. After a knee injury ended his playing days, he became a referee and officiated the two Test matches of the 1904 British Lions tour in Sydney and a New Zealand tour match in Australia in 1914. He was active in local politics as an Alderman for Randwick. Pauling died on 30 September 1927 in Clovelly, Sydney. He was the father of Tom Pauling, a Wallabies centre in the 1930s.