John Solomon, who was was part of Australia's first Bledisloe Cup series win on New Zealand soil in 1949 and who also led the Wallabies to a drought-breaking Test win over the Springboks in South Africa in 1953, has died after a long illness.
He was 90.
A talented five-eighth, centre and outside back, Solomon was inducted into the Australian rugby's Hall of Fame in 2016.
He played 14 Tests between 1949 and 1955 in an era when foreign tours often involved dozens of non-capped games, before studying medicine in Sydney.
Solomon played on the wing and scored a try in the 16-9 win over the All Blacks in Auckland in 1949, when Australia also won in Wellington to secure the Bledisloe Cup in New Zealand.
His first Test as captain was against Fiji in 1952 and his most memorable was the following year when he led the Wallabies to a comeback 18-14 win at Cape Town, handing the Springboks their first loss on home soil since 1938.
©AP2020
