User:MacRusgail/Sandbox5
This is a list of rugby union players who have been notable in other sports.
There are many players who have converted one football code to another or even changed from other sports at a professional or representational level.
Globalisation is increasing the opportunities for players to transfer to different countries and to different professional sports, including the codes of football.
Angling
[edit]Athletics
[edit]- Miles Benjamin
- Jean Bouin
- Danny Crates
- Dion O'Cuinneagain
- Kathy Flores
- C. B. Fry
- Ken Jones (rugby player born 1921)
- Eric Liddell
- Charles Taylor
- James Robertson (activist)
- Attie van Heerden
- Charles Vintcent
Baseball
[edit]Basketball
[edit]- Sharon Blaney
- Kathy Flores
- Mike Pyke
- Emily Scarratt
Softball
[edit]- Sharon Blaney
Bobsleigh
[edit]
- John Brown
- Chris MacKintosh
- Heather Moyse – A Canada international in rugby union, both in 15s and sevens, and winner of a gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in two-woman bobsleigh.
Boxing
[edit]This is a list of sports people who have played both cricket and rugby union at a high level. First-class cricket, provincial rugby and international cricket or rugby are considered to be high level for the purposes of this list. To be eligible, players must have appeared for their country's national side in at least one of the sports. The lists below are alphabetical and sorted by the nationality of the player.
Alfred Shaw and Arthur Shrewsbury, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888 were also noted cricketers.
It should be noted that while the Wales national rugby union team is
a force in international rugby, the Wales national cricket team
plays only rarely, and the nation of Wales is usually subsumed under England for cricketing purposes.
| Name | Cricket team/club | Rugby team |
|---|---|---|
| Rob Andrew | Cambridge University Cricket Club | England national rugby union team |
| Henry Brougham | Oxford University Cricket Club | England national rugby union team |
| Martin Donnelly | New Zealand national cricket team | England national rugby union team |
| C.B. Fry[1] | England cricket team | Oxford University RFC [[Blackheath Rugby Club|Blackheath]] |
| Reginald Hands | South African national cricket team | England national rugby union team |
| Dusty Hare | Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club | England national rugby union team |
| Ronald Lagden | Oxford University Cricket Club | England national rugby union team |
| Tuppy Owen-Smith | South African national cricket team | England national rugby union team |
| John Raphael | Surrey County Cricket Club / [[Oxford University Cricket Club]] |
England national rugby union team |
| Reggie Schwarz | South African national cricket team | England national rugby union team |
| Maurice Turnbull | England cricket team | Wales national rugby union team |
| Clive van Ryneveld | South African national cricket team | England national rugby union team |
| Rudi van Vuuren[2] | Namibia cricket team | Namibia national rugby union team |
| Martin Donnelly | New Zealand national cricket team | England national rugby union team |
| Rod Latham | New Zealand national cricket team | Canterbury rugby union team |
| Jeff Wilson | New Zealand national cricket team | New Zealand national rugby union team |
| Leslie Balfour-Melville[3][4] | Scotland national cricket team / [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] |
Scotland national rugby union team |
| Angus Buchanan[4] | Scotland national cricket team | Scotland national rugby union team |
| Eric Liddell[5] | Scotland national cricket team | Scotland national rugby union team |
| Bill Maclagan[4] | Scotland cricket team | Scotland national rugby union team [[British and Irish Lions]] (captain) |
| Henry Renny-Tailyour[6] | Kent County Cricket Club / Marylebone Cricket Club |
Scotland national rugby union team |
| Hugo Southwell | Sussex | Scotland national rugby union team |
| Morne du Plessis | Western Province cricket team | South Africa national rugby union team |
| Reggie Schwarz | South African national cricket team | England national rugby union team |
| Freddy Turner | Eastern Province cricket team / [[Gauteng cricket team|Transvaal cricket team]] |
South Africa national rugby union team |
| Maurice Turnbull | England cricket team | Wales national rugby union team |
| Wilf Wooller | Glamorgan County Cricket Club | Wales national rugby union team |
| Craig Evans | Zimbabwe national cricket team |
Cycling
[edit]Darts
[edit]Field hockey
[edit]- George Abell (civil servant)
- Cecil Banes-Walker
- Norman Borrett
- Kathy Flores
- Geoff Griffin
- Harry Vaughan Watkins
Golf
[edit]Hammer throw
[edit]Hurling
[edit]Ice Hockey
[edit]Judo
[edit]Karate
[edit]Lawn Bowls
[edit]- Leo Camron, also a keen advocate of cricket, and founding father of Israeli rugby.
Netball
[edit]Polo
[edit]Putting the weight
[edit]Racquets
[edit]
- Henry Brougham
- Richard Harris. As well as being a notable actor, Harris played rugby in Munster for Garryowen FC, and portrayed a rugby league player in This Sporting Life
Rugby fives
[edit]Note that rugby fives is not a form of rugby football
Sailing
[edit]Skiing
[edit]Squash
[edit]Shinty
[edit]Shot put
[edit]Table tennis
[edit]Tennis
[edit]Water polo
[edit]Weight lifting
[edit]Wrestling
[edit]Yachting
[edit]Football codes
[edit]It is extremely common for players of one code of football to switch to another, and the interchange between rugby union and rugby league, which are fairly similar has been huge. Until the advent of professionalisation in the 1990s, it was largely a one-way traffic, although there are now a number of former RL players in RU.
In some countries, such as Australia where multiple codes are popular and the practice of switching codes is common they are known simply as a code convert.[8] In Australia star code converts can have a substantial impact on the football codes. For instance, Dally Messenger's defection from rugby union to rugby league was considered a pivotal moment in the establishment of the latter code over other codes in Australia.[9][10]
Association football is getting the global monopoly on the term "football", but all of the codes below are known as "football" in their local contexts.
American football
[edit]Rugby union and American football share the same origins, but have evolved into very different games. Both are very physical and require similar body types.
| Name | Country | Top American football level | Top rugby union level | Top representation level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Hodges | USA | NCAA Division III | Celtic League | USA (15s) |
| Dan Lyle | USA | NCAA Division I FCS | English Premiership | USA (15s) |
| Leonard Peters | USA | NFL | USA Rugby Men's Club Division I | USA sevens |
| Richard Tardits | France, later USA | NFL | USA Rugby Men's Club Division I | USA (15s) |
NB: Tardits switched codes twice: to American football as a young adult, and back to rugby union after a brief NFL career. He played for Biarritz Olympique and the France under-21 national team before switching to American football, and played for the USA national team after returning to his original code. This entry outlines his career after his second switch of codes.
Chloe Butler
Association Football (Soccer)
[edit]- Bobby Ancell
- George Cotterill
- Jack Dormand
- Loreto Cucchiarelli former player-coach of the Italian rugby union team, played football for Lazio at a young age.
- C. B. Fry
- Herschelle Gibbs
- Michael Green (cricketer)
- William Gwynn
- A. N. Hornby
- Conrad Jantjes played for the youth national team of South Africa at soccer, rugby union and cricket.
- Natasha Kai
- Kenny Logan, Scottish rugby internationalist had Football trials as a goalkeeper for Dundee United and Hearts
- Luke McAlister, a New Zealand international rugby union footballer, grew up in the north-west of England and had a trial with Manchester United before converting to rugby union at an early age.
- Brothers Kevin O'Flanagan and Mick O'Flanagan represented Ireland at both soccer and rugby union.
- Tony O'Reilly
- Melissa Ruscoe
- Jimmy Sinclair
- Robert Sissons
- Neville Steedman
- Charles Vintcent
- Charles Plumpton Wilson
| Name | Country | Top rugby union Level | Top association football Level | Top representation level | Playing Era |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.W. Sutcliffe | England | Bradford P.A./Heckmondwike | Bolton Wanderers/Manchester United | England (both) | 1880s/1910s |
| Adam Holloway | England | Henley Hawks/ Crusaders |
Strathcona Terriers FC | England/New Zealand/Canada | 2000s |
| Tony Ward | Ireland | Munster/Ireland/British and Irish Lions | Shamrock Rovers/Limerick United | British and Irish Lions | 1970s and 1980s |
| Tommy Moroney | Ireland | Munster | West Ham United | Republic of Ireland | 1940s |
| Aaron Ramsey | Wales | Caerphilly RFC (youth team) | Cardiff City/Arsenal | Wales | 2000s |
| Henry Renny-Tailyour | Scotland | Scotland | Royal Engineers A.F.C. | Scotland | 1870s, 1880s |
As in rugby league and Australian rules, early in the history of the two codes in Australia the two codes were interchangeable [citation needed]. There is a much greater divide today. Jason Akermanis was the first professional Australian football player to suggest a switch to Rugby[11]. Nevertheless, there are still some positions and roles that have commonalities (particularly those that involve kicking and catching such as the backs and second row in rugby union; half forwards and rucks in Australian Rules)[12]. Also at amateur level, conversion is quite common, as in the case of many start-up Australian Rules clubs in countries such as France [13] and developing Aussie Rules countries such as New Zealand and Samoa where there are dual-internationals at junior level.
| Name | Country | Top Aussie rules Level | Top rugby union Level | Top representation level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Evans' | New Zealand | Falcons Under 21 | All Blacks | New Zealand (RU), New Zealand U21 (AR) |
| Rambo Tavana | Samoa | Samoa | Manu Samoa | Samoa (AR), Samoa (RU) |
| Mikaele Pesamino | Samoa | Samoa | Manu Samoa | Samoa (AR), Samoa (RU) |
| Alec Boswell Timms | Australia/Scotland | Geelong | Scotland/British Isles | Geelong (AR), Scotland/British Isles (RU) |
In recent years, several schoolboy rugby union players have made a transition to Australian Rules, including Ray Smith (Queensland Under 19), Jim Stynes, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Adam Campbell (New Zealand Under 15), Daniel Merrett, Brad Moran (West Midlands (England) Under 16) and Tom Williams (Queensland Under 16) and more recently Canadian international Mike Pyke.
| Name | Country | Top Rugby union | Top Aussie rules level | Top representation level | Playing Era |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Pyke | Canada | Top 14 (France) | AFL, Sydney Swans | Canada (rugby) | 2004- |
| Name | Country | Top Gaelic football level | Top rugby union Level | Top representation level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Beggy | Ireland | Meath senior football team | Leinster Rugby | |
| Mick Galwey | Ireland | Kerry County Team | Munster Rugby | Ireland national rugby union team |
| Brian Rigney | Ireland | Local Team, Offaly | Leinster Rugby | Ireland national rugby union team |
| Brian Carney | Ireland | Local team | Munster Rugby | Ireland national rugby union team |
| Tomás O'Leary | Ireland | Cork Minors (captain) | Munster Rugby | Ireland national rugby union team |
| Moss Keane | Ireland | UCC GAA, Kerry under-21 | Munster Rugby | Ireland national rugby union team, British and Irish Lions |
| Gavin Duffy | Ireland | Mayo GAA minor (under-18) football team | Connacht Rugby, NEC Harlequins | Ireland national rugby union team |
| Shane Horgan | Ireland | Meath GAA minor (under-18) football team | Leinster Rugby | Ireland national rugby union team, British and Irish Lions |
| Dick Spring | Ireland | Kerry GAA | Munster Rugby, London Irish | Ireland national rugby union team |
see also Category:Gaelic footballers who switched code
| Name | Country | Top rugby union Level | Top Gaelic football Level | Top representation level | Playing Era |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Byrne | Ireland | Leinster Rugby, Ireland, British and Irish Lions | Aughrim GAA | 1990s, 2000s | |
| Eric Miller | Ireland | Old Wesley, Leicester Tigers, Leinster, the Barbarians, Ireland, British and Irish Lions | Dublin senior football team | Dublin senior football team | 1990s, 2000s |
Dual Code Rugby/Rugby League
[edit]The number of rugby union players who have gone over to rugby league is massive. However, with the "free gangway" since the professonalisation of rugby union, the traffic is no longer all one way.
Because so many have switched between the two codes of rugby, it is difficult to produce a representative list.
References
[edit]- ^ Fry was an all rounder, and was also a footballer for Southhampton and Portsmouth, an excellent long jumper and had many other sporting skills
- ^ Van Vuuren is the first man to compete in the final stages of world-cup competitions in cricket and [[rugby union]] in the same year. See - [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1383621,00.html The ten greatest sporting all-rounders - Guardian Unlimited]
- ^ Leslie Balfour-Melville was also captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and had many other sporting achievements leading to his induction as an "All-Rounder" in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
RugMisc1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Also a noted runner, and subject of Chariots of Fire
- ^ Renny-Tailyour also represented Scotland at football.
- ^ http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/1996/st1301/st1301h.pdf
- ^ Globalisation and the future of indigenous football codes. Lionel Frost. Economic Society of Australia. 2004
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/06/24/1960300.htm
- ^ http://www.rl1908.com/Rugby-Rebellion/bookrelease.htm
- ^ http://aru.rugby.com.au/news/2002_june/akermanis_serious_about_union_switch_14128,7131.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]