Below is an extract from an article published in Issue 46
of Rugby League Journal. The article is taken from the chapter on the
relationship with Rugby League in my book about Yorkshire Rugby Union in World
War Two called ‘Let Them Play By All Means’.
During World War Two rugby league players in the Services
were allowed to take part in Services rugby union games against other Services
teams and also against clubs but, were not ‘officially’ allowed to take part in
club versus club fixtures.
‘Did rugby league players take part in club
versus club games? I think almost certainly in Yorkshire they did. Pocklington was
a rugby union club that welcomed the involvement of players from both codes; I
hardly think they were alone. Many wartime fixtures were not reported and team
lists were not submitted to a Governing Body. So, it is very likely that if a
man appeared at a rugby union ground with a pair of boots and a request to
play, he would be welcomed, with no questions asked, especially in the dark
days of the war when the rugby union clubs that were still playing often
struggled to find fifteen players.
Certainly in York and probably in other rugby
league towns the reverse was happening and rugby union players were playing for
professional rugby league clubs. York Rugby League Club was quite open about
including rugby union players in its team. On 13th March 1943, W.E.
Jones, a Welsh international who had played his club rugby for Swansea and
Neath, was included in the York team that played at Leeds in the Challenge Cup.
York lost the game but Jones made a good impression. The rugby league club was
keen to include him the following week but he was required to be in Wales for a
club fixture. Around this time, York were including a number of other rugby
union players in their teams, reporting that fact in the local newspaper.
Evidently neither they nor the players received any warnings or sanctions.
There were many international rugby union players stationed in the North of
England during the war and it is very unlikely that W.E. Jones was the only one
who played for a professional rugby league club.’
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.