Billy O'Neill (rugby)

Last updated

Billy O'Neill
Billy O'Neill.jpg
Birth nameWilliam O'Neill
Date of birth(1878-06-05)5 June 1878
Place of birth Cardiff, Wales
Date of death2 April 1955(1955-04-02) (aged 76)
Place of death Cardiff, Wales
SchoolSt Peter's Roman Catholic School
Occupation(s)docker
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
St. Peters RFC ()
Cardiff RFC ()
– Aberavon RFC ()
– Glamorgan ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1904–1908 Wales [1] [2] 11 (0)
Rugby league career
Playing information
Position Back, Loose forward
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1908–10 Warrington
Representative
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1908–09 Wales [3] 20

William O'Neill (5 June 1878 [4] – 2 April 1955 [1] ), often recorded as Billy O'Neil or Billy Neil, was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and rugby league front row player who played club level rugby union (RU) for Cardiff and Aberavon, and as a professional rugby league footballer he represented Warrington. [3] O'Neill was capped eleven times for the Wales rugby union national team, [2] and twice for the Wales national league team. Although playing throughout the 1904/1905 season, he missed the classic 1905 Wales win over the Original All Blacks. He is often registered in many sources under the name Billy Neill or Neil because the Welsh Rugby Union didn't want him to sound like he was Irish.

Contents

Rugby career

Educated at St Peter's School in Roath, O'Neill played rugby for St. Peters RFC. O'Neill was first selected to play international rugby for Wales in a game against Scotland as part of the 1904 Home Nations Championship. Now playing for first class team Cardiff, and under the captaincy of Llwynypia's Willie Llewellyn, Wales won the game fairly easily, despite the rough play from Scotland's Bedell-Sivright. O'Neill was reselected for the very next game against Ireland, which Wales narrowly lost. O'Neill played in all three matches of the 1905 Championship which saw Wales win the tournament and the Triple Crown for the fourth time.

O'Neill missed the next Wales game, the historic match against the first touring All Blacks, but was available for Cardiff against the same touring team ten days later. He also missed the Wales game against the first touring South African team, though was fit and well to represent both Glamorgan and Cardiff against the Springboks. Glamorgan lost 6-3, but the Cardiff team caused the biggest upset of the tour by outclassing the South Africans 17-0, only their second loss of the tour. O'Neill was back in the Welsh squad the next season playing two of the games in the 1907 Home Nations Championship, and was in all four matches of the 1908 tournament. Wales won all their matches and lifted their fifth Triple Crown, giving O'Neill his second trophy.

In 1908, O'Neill turned his back on the amateur rugby union game by switching to professional rugby league. He joined Warrington, playing his first game for the club on 17 October 1908. After just two months as a professional rugby league footballer, he was selected for the Wales national league team, in an encounter with England at Broughton. He played one more international match, again against England, at Belle Vue, Wakefield in 1909. [5]

O'Neill played at prop in Warrington's 10-3 victory over Australia in the 1908–09 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain tour match during the 1908–09 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington, Saturday 14 November 1908, in front of a crowd of 5,000, due to the strikes in the cotton mills, the attendance was badly affected, the loss of earnings meant that some fans could not afford to watch the first tour by the Australian rugby league team. [6]

International matches played

Wales (rugby union) [7]

Wales (rugby league)

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Jones (rugby, born 1881)</span> GB & Wales international dual-code rugby footballer

David "Tarw" Jones was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and rugby league footballer. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks in a game considered one of the greatest in the history of rugby union. Jones is the only Welsh player to have been part of a team to have beaten the All Blacks in the union and league game and is the second dual-code international rugby player from the Northern Hemisphere.

Fred Birt was a Welsh international, rugby union centre who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby with Monmouthshire. He won seven caps for Wales but is most notable for his outstanding performance against the 1912 touring South African team for Newport. He was also a member of the Wales bowls team.

Harry Hiams was a Welsh international forward who played club rugby for Swansea and Llanelli. He won two caps for Wales and played for Llanelli against the touring South Africans. During the First World War, Hiams served with the Royal Field Artillery.

Robert "Bobby" Lloyd was born on 1888 in Crickhowell, Wales. He was also known by the nickname of "The Hafodyrynys Wonder", was a Welsh rugby footballer who represented Wales in both rugby union and rugby league. He played union for Welsh clubs Pontypool and Monmouthshire County as a scrum half back, gaining selection for Wales, before moving to England to play league for Halifax, also in the halves, and gaining selection for Great Britain and Wales. He died on 18 January 1930 while in Halifax, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Thomas (rugby union)</span> Welsh rugby union player (1880–1916)

Edward John Richard Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union back who played club rugby for Mountain Ash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Dowell</span> Wales dual-code international rugby footballer

William Dowell was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and rugby league footballer who played rugby union for Newport, Pontypool, rugby league and Warrington RLFC. He won seven caps for the Wales rugby union team and after switching to league, played one match for the Wales league squad.

Dicky Ralph was a Welsh international rugby fly-half who played rugby union for Newport and rugby league with Leeds and Batley. He won six caps for Wales at rugby union, and also represented Wales at rugby league.

Albert Fear was a Welsh rugby union flanker who played club rugby for Abertillery RFC and Newport and international rugby for Wales.

Hubert Charles Day was a rugby hooker who played rugby union for Newport and rugby league for Salford. He was awarded five caps for Wales under union rules and was part of the Welsh side that won the 1931 Five Nations Championship. At Salford Day forged a reputation as the greatest hooker to play for the club, his record 488 appearances for the club went unbroken for over 35 years.

William Davies, also known by the nickname of "Avon", was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Aberavon and Swansea as a centre, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain and Wales, and at club level for Leeds, as a wing.

David John Thomas was a Welsh international forward who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Club. He won ten caps for Wales and is most notable for scoring the only try in Swansea's win over South Africa in 1912.

Frank "Genny" Gordon was a Welsh rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Club. Although never capped for his country he is notable for captaining Swansea over two seasons, including the 1904/05 "invincible" season. Gordon also led Swansea against the first touring New Zealand team in 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin Thomas Maynard</span> Wales international rugby union footballer

Edwin Thomas Maynard known as Edwin Thomas or "Beddoe" Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Newport RFC. Thomas was part of the Wales team that won the Triple Crown in 1909, and faced all three major Southern Hemisphere teams; New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, for Newport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Powell (rugby union)</span> Welsh rugby union player

John "Jack" Anderson Powell was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff and London Welsh. Powell played a single international game for Wales, in 1906, and faced the Original All Blacks as part of the Glamorgan county team in 1905 and the South African team as a member of the Cardiff team in 1907.

Glamorgan County RFC is a Welsh rugby union club that manages an invitational team, known as Glamorgan that originally played rugby at county level. The team is made up of amateur players from sports clubs in the Glamorgan region and historically played matches against other county teams from Wales and England, and during the 20th century was a key fixture for touring international teams. Today the club manages Glamorgan's premier rugby union tournament, the Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy, and arranges invitational Glamorgan teams to face Welsh rugby clubs during celebrations, such as anniversaries.

Cecil Fleming Biggs was a British sportsman who played rugby union at centre for Cardiff and the Barbarians, and as a Cricketer represented Glamorgan. Biggs was one of six brothers to play rugby for Cardiff, and captained the team for a season in 1904/05. Although he was never capped at an international level, he has been described as "...one of the great uncapped Welsh players."

Anthony Windham Jones also known as Windham Jones or Wyndham Jones was a Welsh international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Cardiff and Mountain Ash. Jones was capped just once for Wales, but this was during the 1905 Home Nations Championship, making Jones a Grand Slam winning player.

John Charles Meredith Dyke was a former Wales international rugby union fullback. Dyke made his debut for Wales on 1 December 1906 versus South Africa and was selected for the 1908 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia. He played club rugby for Penarth and London Welsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Alf Brown</span> Welsh rugby union player

John "Jack" Alf Brown, colloquially known as John Alf or "Big John", was a Welsh international rugby union forward player who played club rugby for Cardiff and county rugby for Glamorgan. Brown was capped seven times for Wales and although he missed facing the first touring South African team in 1906 with Wales, he faced the tourist with both Cardiff and Glamorgan.

John "Jack" Charles Jenkins was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and London Welsh. He won just a single cap for Wales in 1907 but faced both New Zealand and South Africa at county level with Middlesex and Monmouthshire.

References

  1. 1 2 "Statistics at espn.co.uk". espn.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Statistics at wru.co.uk (RU)". wru.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ↑ "Birth details at freebmd.org.uk". freebmd.org.uk. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  5. ↑ Gate, Robert (1986). Gone North: Volume 1. Ripponden: R.E. Gate. p. 141. ISBN   0-9511190-0-1.
  6. ↑ "100 years since Wire took on the Aussies for the first time". warringtonwolves.com. 31 December 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Smith (1980), pg 469.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.