From The Vaults

02 December 2015

One of Us: England’s Greatest Rugby Players - Cherry Pillman

As a boy Cherry Pillman is purported to have been present when the 1905 touring All-Blacks took on England at Crystal Palace. If true it would seem that whilst everyone else was becoming irate at the borderline infringement play of New Zealand captain Dave Gallaher, Pillman was taking notes.

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02 December 2015

One of Us: England’s Greatest Rugby Players - Cherry Pillman

As a boy Cherry Pillman is purported to have been present when the 1905 touring All-Blacks took on England at Crystal Palace. If true it would seem that whilst everyone else was becoming irate at the borderline infringement play of New Zealand captain Dave Gallaher, Pillman was taking notes.

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24 November 2015

One of Us: England's Greatest Rugby Players - Martin Johnson

Martin Johnson was concussed for most of his 1993 international debut. The fact that he was singled out as having shored up the English lineout and ensured a narrow victory over France was indicative of the type of impact he would go on to have for his team.

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03 November 2015

Red Rose Stories: Gary Pearce

January, 1978. It's a cold Sunday morning in Buckinghamshire, and England are playing a training match against a local county XV. A twenty-one-year-old prop from Aylesbury Rugby Club is about to make a tackle he'll never forget.

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21 October 2015

PLAYER PROFILE - Hugo Porta (Argentina)

Hugo Porta has been described as the foundation stone of Argentinian rugby. He made his debut for the national side as a 20 year-old in 1971, at a time when Argentina were considered a developing side.

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17 October 2015

Lest We Forget - Harry Alexander (England) 17/10/1915

Harry Alexander was born in Oxton, Birkenhead in Cheshire. His father William was a cotton broker in Liverpool, and his mother Edith was the daughter of the little-known artist Robert Gathoney.

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13 October 2015

Lest We Forget - Dan'l Lambert (England) 13/10/1915

Douglas Lambert was born in South Norwood, and in adult life, being a tall man, was more commonly known as 'Dan'l' or 'Danny', by allusion to the famous giant Daniel Lambert of 100 years earlier.

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06 October 2015

RUGBY DYNASTIES - The 'Bok Family Morkel

Many families have contributed outstandingly to the history and development of international rugby. If Ireland holds a record for the number of brothers who have played in the emerald green at the highest level, one family stands supreme in its overall contribution to rugby in their country. The Morkel family...

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27 September 2015

Lest We Forget - Richard Davies Garnons Williams (Wales) 27/09/1915

Over 130 rugby internationals died in the Great War. The oldest - and one of the most courageous - was fifty-nine year-old Richard Davies Garnons Williams. To put this in perspective, the Crimean War had only just ended when Richard was born on 15 June 1856.

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25 September 2015

Lest We Forget - Ernest Cotton Deane MC (Ireland) 25/09/1915

Ernest Deane was born on 4th May 1887 in Limerick, the third son of Thomas Stanley Deane and Aileen Annie (née Byrne), of Bank House, Rathkeale, co. Limerick. His father was manager of the National Bank, Rathkeale, co. Limerick.

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09 September 2015

Red Rose Stories: Ted Woodward

When Ted Woodward first played rugby, he hated it. As a 13-year-old soccer fan, and a fresh face on the playing fields of Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, the young Woodward had found himself playing an alien oval-ball sport - and positioned, of all places, in the front row.

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05 September 2015

Lest We Forget - David Revell Bedell-Sivright (Scotland) 05/09/1915

Triple-Triple Crown winner, hardest man ever to play for Scotland, horse-wrestling captain of the British Lions, heavyweight boxing champion, pioneer of the wing-forward role, jackaroo and surgeon in the Royal Navy.

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08 August 2015

Lest We Forget - Albert 'Doolan' Downing (New Zealand) 08/08/1915

Sergeant Albert Downing was born in Napier on July 12, 1886. He was educated at the Marist Brothers' School there, which he left in 1904, and was employed as a clerk successively by the Excelsior Dairy Co., Ltd., Barry Bros., Ltd., and Ellison and Duncan, Ltd., merchants...

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