Eric Harper

Eric Harper

Birth name	Eric Tristram Harper
Date of birth	(1877-12-01)1 December 1877
Place of birth	Papanui, Christchurch, New Zealand
Date of death	30 April 1918(1918-04-30) (aged 40)
Place of death	Jerusalem, Palestine
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb)
School	Christchurch Boys' High School
Notable relative(s)	Henry Harper (grandfather) George Harper (father) Leonard Harper (uncle) A.P. Harper (cousin)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Second five-eighth and centre Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) Christchurch () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1900–05 Canterbury 14 () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1904–06 New Zealand 2 (6)

Eric Tristram Harper (1 December 1877 – 30 April 1918)^[1] was a New Zealand sportsman and lawyer, who is most notable for playing rugby union for the New Zealand national rugby union team and in 1905 became one of the Original All Blacks when he toured Britain and Ireland with Dave Gallaher's team.

A keen athlete, Harper was a hurdler at national level, and also played cricket representing Canterbury. In 1918, while serving in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force during World War I, he was killed in action in Jerusalem; becoming one of 11 New Zealand rugby internationals to die during the conflict.