Ernie Herring began his career playing rugby union in Auckland. He was a representative of the Railway team which won the Auckland club competition and he also played for Auckland. In 1918 he switched to the rugby league code and joined the Grafton Athletic senior team in the Auckland Rugby League competition where he played for two seasons before transferring to the Maritime club in 1920. Maritime changed their name to Fire Brigade in 1922. He won the title with Maritime in the 1920 season. They did not secure the win until the final round of the season when they defeated Ponsonby United 26 to 10 with Herring scoring a try, and City Rovers their nearest rivals losing. In 1923 Maritime changed their name to Athletic, and then they changed it again to Grafton Athletic assuming the name of Herring's original team. He debuted for Auckland in 1918 in their match against Canterbury which was won by 45 points to 9. Then, in just his second season in the code Herring made the New Zealand test team. He was to appear in 19 matches for New Zealand between 1919 and 1927, including 9 tests. His New Zealand debut was on the tour of Australia when he played in a tour match against Tamworth which New Zealand won by 8 points to 5 with Herring scoring a try. There were no test matches played on the tour which consisted of 11 matches, with Herring playing in 6 of them. Ernie Herring made his debut for New Zealand in a test match in 1920 against the touring England team at the Auckland Domain in front of an estimated 34,000 spectators. New Zealand was soundly beaten by 31 points to 7 with Herring playing in the second row. It would be 4 years before he would again appear in the New Zealand jersey when he played in three tests against the touring England team. New Zealand was to secure a famous series victory with wins in the first and second tests with Herring in the front row in each match. He scored a try in the third test which New Zealand lost 31 points to 11. In 1925 Herring was selected for the North Island team in an inter-island games against the South Island. Herring ran in three tries in a 27 to 9 win for the North Island. In 1925 he toured Australia with the New Zealand team and played in 6 tour matches. And in 1926/27 he played in 30 of the 34 games on the ill-fated tour of England including three test matches against England.
Death
Ernie Herring was a fire fighter by trade, enrolling in the force in 1916 at the age of 18. In 1929 he became the station officer at Avondale, Auckland. After attending a fire at Jerboa Manufacturing Company's wood furniture and toy factory, at Puriri Street in New Lynn he collapsed and died of a heart attack in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. After retiring as a player he had been involved in the formation and management of the Avondale Rugby League club.
