Lest We Forget – Charlie Adamson (British Lions) 17/09/1918

Posted on September 17, 2018 by

Charles Young (Charlie) Adamson was born on 15 May 1875, the second of six children in a notable Durham sporting family.  He attended Durham School between 1887 and 1895 where he was an outstanding cricketer and rugby player.  After leaving school, he played his club rugby for Old Dunelmians and Durham City before making his debut for Durham County as a half back against Northumberland on 27 February 1895.

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He made his first appearance for the North against the South at Bristol on 17 December 1898 and then played three times for the Barbarians against Cardiff, Newport and Exeter on their Christmas tour in December 1898.  He played for the North again in February 1899 and, after a lapse of eight years, captained the North side against the South in December 1907.  Curiously for such a talented player, he was on the losing side in all his matches for the North and the Barbarians. Continue reading →

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Lest We Forget – Maurice Boyau (France) 16/09/1918

Posted on September 16, 2018 by

Maurice Boyau was born into a wealthy family of French settlers in Mustapha in Algeria on May 8th 1888.  As a young man he established a reputation as a cyclist and as an excellent all-round athlete, 1.81m tall and weighing 79kg, following the family’s return to France in 1907.

Maurice Boyau

He played his early rugby as a back row forward for L’Union Sportive Dacquoise (Dax) and he became captain of the Dax team in 1909 at the age of just 20.  He left for Bordeaux later in the year to carry out his military service in the 144th Infantry Regiment where he joined the Stade Bordelais Université Club (SBUC).  Boyau played for SBUC and scored a conversion against Sporting Club Universitaire de France (SCUF) in their 14-0 Championship winning match in front of 16,000 spectators at Le Bouscat on 9th April 1911.  His dynamic style of play foreshadowed many future French marauding flankers and he was a more than useful kicker in addition. Continue reading →

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Flying Lions: Peter Larter

Posted on September 10, 2018 by

Continuing our series of biographies by David Smith, covering some of the British & Irish Lions who served with the RAF. 

Peter John Larter was born in Totnes Devon, on 7th September 1944.  He joined the RAF as an apprentice at the No 1 Radio School at RAF Locking, was a member of the first ever RAF Colts team in 1963 and later became the first ex-RAF Colt to win senior international honours.

RAF Colts v North Midlands at RAF Gaydon in 1963. Peter Larter is in the middle of the back row.

RAF Colts v North Midlands at RAF Gaydon in 1963. Peter Larter is in the middle of the back row.

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Getting to know Younji

Posted on August 27, 2018 by

At the start of her last week with the World Rugby Museum, we put some questions to our intern Younji from South Korea.  She has been with us for an 8 week placement as part of her postgraduate Museum Studies course at the University of Leicester.

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Flying Lions: Ken Jones

Posted on August 20, 2018 by

Continuing our series of biographies by David Smith, covering some of the British & Irish Lions who served with the RAF. 

Kenneth Jeffery Jones was born on 30th December 1921 in Blaenavon.  He won his first Welsh Schools cap during the 1939-40 season while attending West Monmouth Grammar School in Pontypool.  He was called up during WW2 and spent his war-time service in India and so was never capped by the RAF.

Ken Jones Continue reading →

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Winston Ide: From Wallaby to Prisoner of War

Posted on August 13, 2018 by

In his early twenties, Winston ‘Blow’ Ide was determined to play for the Wallabies, but when he was dropped from the New South Wales line-up he knew his chances were slim.  Moving north in 1937 to play for Queensland, Ide’s state selection propelled him onto the international rugby stage, but his playing days was soon after cut short by the arrival of the Second World War.  Seeing military action in South-East Asia, the strength and determination he demonstrated on the rugby pitch would assist Ide in persevering through many hard years as a Japanese prisoner of war.

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The ill-fated 1939-40 Wallabies tour

Posted on August 6, 2018 by

Dubbed the ‘tour of a lifetime’, it was expected to be a ten-month, 28-match tour of Great Britain for an Australian representative side.  Whilst the players made the journey half way around the world, they would not get the opportunity to play a single game of rugby in the British Isles.

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Posted in Australia, Countries | 4 Comments