One of three brothers to play rugby for New Zealand, Brownlie is regarded as one of the greatest loose forwards the All Blacks have had.

Brownlie was a stalwart of the successful Hawke’s Bay teams of the 1920s and was described by the Bay selector of the time, Norman McKenzie as “the greatest man I have ever seen as a side-row forward because he was great in every aspect of forward play”.

Brownlie played 61 matches for New Zealand, including eight tests, and some say his greatest match was the England test in 1925 after his brother Cyril had become the first player to be sent off in a test.

Maurice Brownlie scored a try in that match and the England captain, Wavell Wakefield, wrote of it:

“Somehow he went on, giving me the impression of a moving tree-trunk, so solid did he appear to be and so little effect did various attempted tackles have upon him.”

Maurice Brownlie captained the All Blacks on their 1928 tour of South Africa.