Bob Loudon

Last updated

Bob Loudon
Birth nameRobert Briton Loudon [1]
Date of birth(1903-03-24)24 March 1903 [1]
Place of birth Leeston [1] NZ
Date of death6 October 1991 [1]
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight14 st 4 lb (90.7 kg)
School Sydney Grammar School [2]
Notable relative(s) Darby Loudon
Rugby union career
Position(s) Versatile back
Flanker [1]
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
GPS Old Boys ()
– North Sydney RUFC ()
– Manly RUFC ()
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1923-34 New South Wales [2] 23 ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1923-34 Australia [1] 13 (12)

Robert Briton Loudon (24 March 1903 – 6 October 1991) was a New Zealand born rugby union player, a flanker who made twenty-three representative appearances for the New South Wales state team in the 1920s. Seven of these matches have since been decreed as Test matches by the Australian Rugby Union and Loudon, who led the side in one such match in 1928, was therefore a captain of the Australian national team. After rugby union restarted in Queensland in 1929, and national selections were made from the two states Loudon played in six further full Australian Wallaby Test sides. In addition to his thirteen Test matches he made a further twenty-one tour match appearances for representative Australian sides on three international tours between 1923 and 1933.

Contents

Rugby career

Loudon, was born in Leeston, New Zealand [1] and initially attended Christ's College, Christchurch. He relocated to Sydney during his youth and attended Sydney Grammar School. He was proficient in competitive Surf Life Saving at Sydney's Manly Beach and stroked the Manly Surf Club boat to win the national championship in 1927-28. [2]

Loudon made his representative debut on the New South Wales tour to New Zealand in 1923 as a versatile back. He played in eight of the ten matches, including three Tests (one as a replacement). He appeared on tour as a centre, fullback and winger. With no Queensland Rugby Union administration or competition in place from 1919 to 1929, the New South Wales Waratahs were the top Australian representative rugby union side of the period and a number of their 1920s fixtures played against full international opposition were decreed by the Australian Rugby Union in 1986 as official Test matches. Loudon made six such appearances against New Zealand XVs and one against a New Zealand Māori rugby union team on two tours to New Zealand. By his second tour of 1928 Loudon was a specialist flanker. [1] He captained the Waratahs side in the second Test match of that 1928 series as well as in two tour games and thus qualifies as an Australian national rugby union team captain. [2]

Howell asserts that Loudon was a certainty for the 1927–28 Waratahs tour of the British Isles, France and Canada and would have earned a more highly regarded name in Australian rugby folklore but for the fact that he declared himself unavailable for the tour. [2]

He made a Test appearance in 1929 again opposite New Zealand and then in 1933 was selected for the first-ever Wallaby tour of South Africa. He played in four Tests on tour and in 10 other minor matches. In 1934 he made further state representative appearances for New South Wales and played his final Test match, all against New Zealand in Sydney. [2]

His brother Darby Loudon also represented for Australia in rugby union and captained the national side. Bob and Darby were the first pairs of brothers to captain their country in international rugby. [2]

Preceded by Australian national rugby union captain
1928		Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyril Towers</span> Rugby player

Cyril Towers was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre who made 57 appearances for the Wallabies, played in 19 Test matches and captained the national team on three occasions in 1937.

Alan Stewart Cameron was an Australian rugby union footballer of the 1950s and 60s. A State and national representative lock-forward he made twenty Test appearances and over fifty additional tour match appearances for the Wallabies, captaining the national side in four Tests matches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnnie Wallace</span> Rugby player

Arthur Cooper "Johnnie" Wallace was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative three-quarter who captained the Waratahs on 25 occasions in the 1920s as well as representing Scotland early in his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syd Malcolm</span> Rugby player

Syd Malcolm (1902–1987) was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative half-back who captained the Wallabies' on seventeen occasions between 1928 and 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Lawton Snr</span> Rugby player

Tom Lawton Snr was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative five-eighth who made 44 appearances for the Wallabies, played in 14 Test matches and captained the national side on ten occasions.

Charlie Fox was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative second-rower who made 36 appearances for the Wallabies, playing in 17 Test matches and captained the national side on seven occasions in 1925.

Steve Williams is an Australian former state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in five Test matches in 1985.

Alexander William Ross was an Australian state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in thirteen Test matches in 1933-34.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Row</span> Rugby player

Frank Leonard Row was a pioneer Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre who was his country's first Test captain in 1899, leading the national side on three occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Wickham</span> Australia international rugby union player (1877-1960)

Stan Wickham was a pioneer Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative centre who captained the Australian national side on a number of occasions in the early 1900s. He was tour captain for the inaugural Wallaby overseas tour, that to New Zealand in 1905.

Lawrence Joseph Dwyer was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative fullback who captained the Wallabies in 1913.

Edward Joseph Fahey was an Australian rugby union player and World War I artilleryman. He was a state and national representative lock forward who made two international rugby tours and who captained the Wallabies on the 1913 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand.

Arthur Stanley Billingsgate "Alfred" Walker was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative scrum-half. His representative career lasted from 1912 to 1924 and he captained the national side on fifteen occasions including eleven Test matches between 1922 and 1924. Later he was a NSW state selector and representative team manager.

William Thornton Watson, DSO, MC, DCM was a New Zealander who served as an officer in the Australian Imperial Force in both World Wars. Prior to and after the First World War he had a distinguished rugby union career, representing Australia in eight Test matches and captaining the national side on three occasions. During the New Guinea Campaign in the Second World War he was the Commanding Officer of the Papuan Infantry Battalion. Following the war, he served as Australia's Vice – Consul to New York.

Walter Smale "Watty" Friend was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative lock forward in the 1920s. Ten of his New South Wales state appearances have since been decreed as Test matches by the Australian Rugby Union and Friend, who led the side in three such matches in 1923, was therefore a captain of the Australian national team.

William Beverley James Sheehan was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative fly-half in the 1920s. Eighteen of his New South Wales state appearances have since been decreed as Test matches by the Australian Rugby Union and Sheehan, who led the side in three such matches in 1923, was therefore a captain of the Australian national team.

Darby Briton Loudon was a New Zealand born rugby union player, a flanker who made sixteen representative appearances for the New South Wales state team in the 1920s. Four of these matches have since been decreed as Test matches by the Australian Rugby Union and Loudon, who led the side in one such match in 1922, was therefore a captain of the Australian national team.

Edward Joseph "Ted" Thorn was an Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative flanker who made 36 appearances for the Waratahs. He played in fifteen Test matches and was captaining the national side on thirteen occasions between 1924 and 1926.

Ron Walden was an Australian state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in three Test matches in 1936.

Geoffrey Arnold Shaw is an Australian former national representative rugby union player who played for and captained the Wallabies. He made state representative appearances for both New South Wales and Queensland over an eleven-year period from 1969.

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Scrum.com player profile of Bob Loudon". Scrum.com. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Howell p99

Bibliography


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.