Other Nationalities rugby league team

Summary

The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They competed in the first ever rugby league international in 1904, against England,[1][2] fielding players from Wales and Scotland. The team was later represented by players from Australia, Fiji, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa. The Other Nationalities team wore green shirts.

Other Nationalities
Team results
First game
 England 3–9 Other Nationalities
(Wigan, England; 5 April 1904)
Biggest win
 England 10–35 Other Nationalities
(Wigan, England; 11 April 1951)
Other Nationalities 30–5 Wales 
(Bradford, England; 7 October 1953)
Biggest defeat
Lancashire Lancashire 36–7 Other Nationalities
(St. Helens, England; 25 November 1975)

History edit

The team was formed to play England in one-off friendlies and did so until the 1930s. Between 1949 and 1955, they competed in the European Championship, winning the 1952/53 and 1955/56 tournaments. In 1964 Other Nationalities played their only match in the Southern Hemisphere in a one-off match vs Sydney Colts at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The match was played as a curtain-raiser to the Australia vs France 3rd Test and was arranged in order to boost the attendance due to France's poor form on tour. The team was made up of foreign players from the NSWRL competition that year plus two Frenchmen that missed selection in France's 3rd Test team. In 1965, Other Nationalities also played New Zealand at Selhurst Park as part of that years Kiwi tour. In 1974 and 1975 the team competed in the County Championship, facing Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cumbria, twice each over both years.

The team ceased to exist after 1975 with Great Britain no longer competing in tournaments meaning Wales began to compete on a regular basis and New Zealand began selecting overseas-based players.

Results edit

Other Nationalities
Date Home Score Away Competition Venue Attendance
5 April 1904   England 3-9 Other Nationalities Friendly Central Park, Wigan 6,000
2 January 1905   England 26-11 Other Nationalities Friendly Park Avenue, Bradford 6,000
1 January 1906   England 3-3 Other Nationalities Friendly Central Park, Wigan 8,000
5 February 1921   England 33-16 Other Nationalities Friendly Lonsdale Park, Workington
15 October 1924   England 17-23 Other Nationalities Friendly Headingley, Leeds 3,000
4 February 1926   England 37-11 Other Nationalities Friendly Recreation Ground, Whitehaven 7,000
20 March 1929   England 27-20 Other Nationalities Friendly Headingley, Leeds 5,000
7 April 1930   England 19-35 Other Nationalities Friendly Thrum Hall, Halifax 2,000
1 October 1930   England 31-18 Other Nationalities Friendly Knowsley Road, St Helens 10,000
30 March 1933   England 34-27 Other Nationalities Friendly Lonsdale Park, Workington 11,000
19 September 1949   England 7-13 Other Nationalities 1949-50 European Championship Derwent Park, Workington 17,500
22 October 1949   Wales 5-6 Other Nationalities The Park, Abertillery 2,000
15 January 1950   France 8-3 Other Nationalities Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 25,000
10 December 1950   France 16-3 Other Nationalities 1950-51 European Championship Stade du Parc Lescure, Bordeaux 28,000
31 March 1951   Wales 21-27 Other Nationalities St Helens Rugby Ground, Swansea 5,000
11 April 1951   England 10-35 Other Nationalities Central Park, Wigan 17,000
3 November 1951 Other Nationalities 17-14   France 1951-52 European Championship Craven Park, Hull 18,000
1 December 1951   Wales 11-22 Other Nationalities The Park, Abertillery 3,386
23 April 1952   England 31-18 Other Nationalities Central Park, Wigan 20,000
18 October 1952   England 12-31 Other Nationalities 1952-53 European Championship Fartown Ground, Huddersfield 20,000
23 November 1952   France 10-29 Other Nationalities Stade Vélodrome, Marseille 18,000
15 April 1953 Other Nationalities 16-18   Wales Wilderspool, Warrington 8,449
7 October 1953 Other Nationalities 30-5   Wales 1953-54 European Championship Odsal Stadium, Bradford 14,646
18 October 1953   France 15-10 Other Nationalities Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux 12,000
28 November 1953   England 30-22 Other Nationalities Central Park, Wigan 19,000
12 September 1955   England 16-33 Other Nationalities 1955-56 European Championship Central Park, Wigan 18,234
19 October 1955 Other Nationalities 32-19   France Hilton Park, Leigh 7,000
18 July 1964   Sydney Colts 25-16 Other Nationalities Curtain-raiser to Australia vs France 3rd Test Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 16,731
27 January 1965 Other Nationalities 2-19   St. Helens Friendly (switching-on of new floodlights) Knowsley Road, St Helens 15,000
18 August 1965 Other Nationalities 7-15   New Zealand 1965 Kiwi Tour Crystal Palace, London
11 September 1974   Lancashire 14-13 Other Nationalities 1974 County Championship The Willows, Salford 2,000
18 September 1974   Yorkshire 6-104 Other Nationalities Craven Park, Hull
25 September 1974   Cumbria ?-? Other Nationalities Recreation Ground, Whitehaven
25 November 1975   Lancashire 36-7 Other Nationalities 1975 County Championship Knowsley Road, St Helens 29,000
6 December 1975   Yorkshire 8-68 Other Nationalities Odsal Stadium, Bradford
20 December 1975   Cumbria 19-14 Other Nationalities Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness

Player statistics edit

Source[3]

Name Nat. Club Games Tries Goals Drops Points
Trevor Allan   Leigh 4 3 0 0 9
George Andrews   Leeds 1 0 0 4
Vic Armbruster   Rochdale Hornets 1 0 0 3
Ambrose Baker 1924   Oldham 1
Billy Banks  
David Barends††   Bradford Northern 2 0 0 8
Robert Bartlett   (Bramley circa-1948) Leeds 1 0 0 4
Harry Bath   Warrington 10 1 20 0 44
Jack Beames (№ 11/№ 12) circa-1913…22   Halifax 1
Jock Beattie   Halifax 1 0 0 4
Brian Bevan (№ 2) circa-1951   Warrington 15 26 0 0 104
Neville Black   Wigan / Keighley 3 1 0 0 4
David Booysen   Wigan 1 0 0 4
Billy Boston   Wigan 3 0 0 12
Phil Brady (№ 7) circa-1904 †   Huddersfield
Andrew Broatch   Leeds ≥1
Fred Brown  
Lou Brown   Wigan 5 0 0 20
Herbert Buckler (№ 12) circa-1904 †   Salford
Jeffrey Burke (№ 12) circa-1951   Leigh
Joe Busch   Leeds 1 1 0 0 4
Tony Cheshire Bramley
Ian Clark
Arthur Clues (№ 11) circa-1951   Leeds / Hunslet 14 2 0 0 8
Gert Coetzer   Wakefield Trinity ≥1
Percy Coldrick circa-1921   Wigan 1 0 0 0 0
Bert Cook   Leeds / Keighley / Dewsbury 0 3 0 6
Lionel Cooper (№ 5) circa-1951   Huddersfield 14 11 0 0 44
Kel Coslett   St. Helens 1 0 2 0 4
Ronnie Cowan   Leeds ≥1
John Daly   Huddersfield / Featherstone Rovers 7 1 0 0 4
Daniel Davies   Swinton 1 2 0 0 8
Eli Davies circa-1904 †   Wigan
William Davies circa-1921   Leeds 1 0 0 0
James Dechan circa-1905  ? Bradford 1 0 0 4
Pat Devery (№ 4) circa-1951   Huddersfield 11 3 19 0 50
Wyndham Emery   Leigh 1 0 0 0 0
Frank Evans   Swinton 2 1 0 0 4
Fielding   Salford 1 0 0 4
Christopher Forster Bramley
Ike Fowler circa-1921   Batley
George Frater (№ 10) {c} circa-1904 †   Oldham
Bruce Gibbs circa-1975   Workington Town
Bryn Goldswain 1955   Oldham 1
Bernard Gould circa-1921   Leeds 1 0 0 0 0
Gordon Gray   Huddersfield 1 0 0 4
Ben Gronow circa-1921   Huddersfield 1 1 5 0 13
Gomer Gunn circa-1905   Bradford 0 1 0 2
Trevor Hall [1]   St. Helens / Rochdale Hornets 1 0 0 4
Roy Hardgrave [2]   St. Helens / York 1 0 0 4
David Harris circa-1904 †   Wigan 1 0 0 4
Harrison [3]? 2 0 0 8
Peter Henderson (№ 6) circa-1951   Huddersfield 4 0 0 16
Andrew Hogg   Broughton
Johnny Hunter (№ 1) circa-1951   Huddersfield 8 0 0 0 0
Lou Hutt [4]   St. Helens 1 0 0 4
John Isaac (№ 9) circa-1965 (ex-Swansea RFC)   Swinton ≥1
Ronald James   Halifax ≥1
Francis Jarvis Bradford Northern
Emlyn Jenkins  ? 1 0 0 4
Sidney Jerram circa-1921   Wigan 1 0 0 0 0
Berwyn Jones   Wakefield Trinity ≥1
Lewis Jones   Leeds 2 1 9 0 21
Cec Kelly (№ 7) circa-1951 Rochdale Hornets 6 1 0 0 4
Robert Kelly (№ 10/№ 11) circa-1955…56   Wakefield Trinity
Bill Kilpatrick 1930 Oldham 1
Roy Kinnear   Wigan 3 3 0 0 12
Alex Laidlaw circa-1905   Bradford
David Lewis (№ 5) circa-1904 †   Oldham
Gordon Lewis   Leigh ≥1
Steve Llewellyn   St. Helens 1 0 0 4
Tom Llewellyn (№ 3) circa-1904 †   Leeds
Tommy Lynch   Halifax 4
Leonard Mason [5]   Wigan 4 1 0 0 4
Tom McKinney (№ 9) circa-1951   Salford 7 0 0 0 0
Bob McMaster [6] (№ 8) circa-1951   Leeds 6 0 0 0 0
Jim Mills   1 0 0 4
James Moffatt (№ 9) circa-1904 †   Leeds
Glyn Moses [7]   Salford / St. Helens
Rex Mossop   Leigh
Cecil Mountford   Wigan
Rupert Mudge (№ 10) circa-1951   Workington Town 13 1 0 0 4
Andrew Murdison   Halifax 1 0 0 4
Louis Neumann sr, lf circa-1965   Leeds ≥1
Frank O'Rourke  
Stan Owen   Rochdale Hornets ≥1
Tony Paskins (№ 3) circa-1951   Workington Town 11 2 0 0 8
Joseph Phillips?   Bradford Northern 0 13 0
Raymond Price   Warrington 2
Ron Pomering circa 1975   Bramley 3 0 0
Wickham Powell circa-1921   Rochdale Hornets 1 0 0 0 0
Ike Proctor   1 0 0 4
Laitia Ravouvou (№ 10) circa-1965   Rochdale Hornets ≥1
Rees circa-1905  ? Bradford
Dai Rees   Halifax 1
Jack Rhapps (№ 8) circa-1904 †   Salford
Johnny Robinson[4]   York 3 0 0 12
Johnny Rogers circa-1921   Huddersfield 1 1 0 0 4
Brian Shillinglaw   Wigan ≥1
Dai Smith (№ 1) circa-1904 †   Salford
Frank Stephens 20 March 1929   Wigan 1
Jim Sullivan   Wigan 6 0 22 0 44
Dai Thomas (№ 11) circa-1904 †   Oldham 1 0 0 4
D. Thomas (№ 2) circa-1904 †   Salford 1 0 0 4
P. Thomas   1 0 0 4
Gwyn Thomas circa-1921   Huddersfield 1 0 0 0 0
Joe Thompson   Leeds 5 1 0 0 4
John Thorley   Halifax 2
Dave Valentine (№ 13) circa-1951   Huddersfield 16 2 0 0 8
Rob Valentine   Keighley
Attie van Heerden   Wigan 2 0 0 8
Don Vines   Wakefield Trinity ≥1
Wallace 0 0 1 1
White 1 0 0 4
H. Whitney circa-1921   Salford 1 0 0 0 0
Brinley Williams circa-1921   Batley 1 0 0 0 0
Frederick Willis circa-1921   Batley
George Wilson   Workington Town 1 0 0 4
Charlie Winslade   Warrington ≥1

† 5 April 1904 match, against England, was a 12-a-side game.

†† Although originally from South Africa, David Barends also represented Great Britain.


 
Harry Bath, born in Brisbane, Queensland, played for the Other Nationalities team whilst playing for Warrington. He kicked 20 goals, a tally that is second only to Jim Sullivan. He also scored 1 try to score 44 points overall. On returning to Australia he played for St George Dragons and coached the Australian national team, despite never playing for them.

Other teams edit

Throughout history their have been several other teams created using a similar concept.

Exiles edit

Combined Nationalities edit

The Combined Nationalities rugby league team a rugby league team created to play an international fixture against France in 1954. The team comprised European-based (or in the case of the United States players, European touring) non-French rugby league footballers.[5]

The team lost 15-19 during the match at Stade de Gerland, Lyon, on Sunday 3 January 1954.

Players

Notable players include;

Combined Nations All Stars edit

The Combined Nations All Stars was created following the COVID-19 pandemic as opposition to England using UK based players as international travel was still restricted. The team played twice with the following results:

Date Opponent Score Location Attendance
25 June 2021   England 24–26   Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington 4,000 [6]
18 June 2022 18–4 9,393

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "The History Of Rugby League". Rugby League Information. napit.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Scotland". rlwc2013.com. Rugby League International Federation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "Player Directory". Rugby League Records. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Programme 'Yorkshire County Rugby League - Challenge Cup Final - 1957 - Huddersfield v. York'" (PDF). huddersfieldrlheritage.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Summary at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. ^ "England beaten by All Stars in Shaun Wane's first game in charge". The Guardian. 26 Jun 2021. Retrieved 27 Jun 2021.

External links edit

  • RL1895 - The First International
  • France defeated in ‘Battle of the Boulevard’