James Peters (rugby)

Last updated April 10, 2019

James 'Jimmy' Peters^[1] (7 August 1879 – 26 March 1954) was an English rugby union player and, later, a rugby league footballer. He is notable as the first black man to play rugby union for England, and the only black England player until 1988.^[2] He was also known as "Darkie Peters".

Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world simply as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts at each end.

Rugby league football is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field. One of the two codes of rugby, it originated in Northern England in 1895 as a split from the Rugby Football Union over the issue of payments to players. Its rules progressively changed with the aim of producing a faster, more entertaining game for spectators.

The England national rugby union team competes in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on a total of 28 occasions, 13 times winning the Grand Slam and 25 times winning the Triple Crown, making them the most successful outright winners in the tournament's history. They are ranked fourth in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 18 March 2019. England are to date the only team from the northern hemisphere to win the Rugby World Cup, when they won the tournament back in 2003. They were also runners-up in 1991 and 2007.

Early life

Peters was born at 38 Queen Street in Salford, Greater Manchester, in Lancashire, England. James Peters's Jamaican father, George, had been mauled to death in a training cage by lions.^[3] His mother, Hannah Gough originally from Shropshire, was unable to look after him so allowed him to join another circus troupe as a bareback horse rider. He was abandoned by the circus at age 11, having broken his arm, and found himself in Fegan's orphanage in Southwark, and then Little Wanderers' Home in Greenwich, where he captained many of their sports teams. Greenwich Admirals Rugby League Club now celebrate Peters' life with an annual challenge game.

Lancashire is a ceremonial county in North West England. The administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300 and an area of 1,189 square miles (3,080 km²). People from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians.

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands of England, bordering Wales to the west, Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, and Worcestershire and Herefordshire to the south. Shropshire Council was created in 2009, a unitary authority taking over from the previous county council and five district councils. The borough of Telford and Wrekin has been a separate unitary authority since 1998 but continues to be included in the ceremonial county.

Southwark is a district of Central London and is the north-west of the London Borough of Southwark. Centred 1 ¹⁄₂ miles (2.4 km) east of Charing Cross, it fronts the River Thames and the City of London to the north. It was at the lowest bridging point of the Thames in Roman Britain, providing a crossing from Londinium, and for centuries had the only Thames bridge in the area, until a bridge was built upstream more than 10 miles (16 km) to the west. It was a 1295-enfranchised Borough in the county of Surrey, apparently created a burh in 886, containing various parishes by the high medieval period, lightly succombing to City attempts to constrain its free trade and entertainment. Its entertainment district, in its heyday at the time of Shakespare's Globe Theatre has revived in the form of the Southbank which overspills imperceptibly into the ancient boundaries of Lambeth and commences at the post-1997 reinvention of the original theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, incorporating other smaller theatre spaces, an exhibition about Shakespeare's life and work and which neighbours Vinopolis and the London Dungeon. After the 18th century decline of Southwark's small wharves, the borough rapidly grew in population and saw the growth of great docks, printing/paper, railways, goods yards, small artesan and other often low-wage industries and Southwark was among many such inner districts to see slum clearance and replacement largely with social housing during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is now at an advanced stage of regeneration and has the City Hall offices of the Greater London Authority. At its heart is the area known as Borough, which has an eclectic covered and semi-covered market and numerous food and drink venues as well as the skyscraper The Shard. Another landmark is Southwark Cathedral, a priory then parish church created a cathedral in 1905, noted for its Merbecke Choir.

Peters trained in printing and carpentry; his trade brought him to Bristol, where he played as a fly-half for Dings Crusaders, Knowle and Bristol Rugby Club, and represented the Somerset County team between 1900 and 1903. His presence at Bristol was opposed by some on racist grounds: a committee member at Bristol resigned in protest at his selection for the team, whilst a local newspaper described him as a "palid blackamoor", and complained that he was "keeping a white man out of the side". Peters then moved on to Plymouth in 1902, representing Plymouth RUFC, and the Devon county side until 1909. He was the star player in the Devon side which won the County Championship in 1906, resulting in the press calling for his selection for the national team.^[2]

Bristol is a city and county in South West England with a population of 459,300. The wider district has the 10th-largest population in England. The urban area population of 724,000 is the 8th-largest in the UK. The city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively. South Wales lies across the Severn estuary.

Dings Crusaders RFC is an English rugby union team based in the Bristol suburb of Frenchay having previously been based in Lockleaze up until 2018. The club was relegated from National Division Two South, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system in 2015 and currently play in South West Premier. From the 2018-19 season they will once more play in National League 2 South having won South West Premier the previous year.

Plymouth is a port city situated on the south coast of Devon, England, approximately 37 miles (60 km) south-west of Exeter and 190 miles (310 km) west-south-west of London. Enclosing the city are the mouths of the river Plym and river Tamar, which are naturally incorporated into Plymouth Sound to form a boundary with Cornwall.

England international

On 17 March 1906, Peters won his début cap for England against Scotland. However, The Yorkshire Post pointed out, "his selection is by no means popular on racial grounds".^[1] In the match, he set up two tries for England:^[2] The Sportsman commented that the "dusky Plymouth man did many good things, especially in passing." He was to play a further game, against France, in which he scored a try.

The Scotland national rugby union team is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team takes part in the annual Six Nations Championship and participates in the Rugby World Cup, which takes place every four years. As of 18 March 2019, Scotland are 7th in the World Rugby Rankings.

The first British newspaper titled The Sportsman began publishing from 1865, some six years after the Sporting Life. It ran until 1924.

The France national rugby union team competes annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright seventeen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams. Ten former French players have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. France are currently ranked 8th in the World Rugby Rankings as of March 18th 2019.

In October through to December 1906 Peters became embroiled in controversy regarding the touring South African Springboks, as some members objected to him playing against them for Devon due to his colour, and he was not picked for the International game against South Africa, with a number of newspapers citing racial grounds.^[3] He went on to be capped for England three more times in 1907 and 1908.^[2]

The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks, is governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts, and their emblems are the Springbok and the King Protea. The team has been representing South Africa in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team.

In 1910, Peters lost three fingers in a dockyard accident, and although it was initially feared he could not play again he continued to play until 1912 when politics forced Peters out of rugby union.

Rugby league

Clubs in the south-west of England attempted to form a Western League (later Rugby league) and play competitive fixtures. He was suspended for accepting payment from Devon Rugby Club, which was illegal according to the codes of rugby union. Many players, including Peters, and also RFC Plymouth were suspended by the RFU. Plymouth's ground closed, signalling the end of Plymouth RFC. The rules of professionalism often owed more to politics than finance.

Peters, by then 34 and disillusioned with rugby union, was accepted into rugby league. Returning to his native north-west of England, Peters played for Barrow in 1913, and then transferred to St. Helens in 1914 until his retirement from rugby.^[1]

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References

1 2 3 Collins, Tony (2009). 1895 & all that…: Inside rugby league's hidden history. p. 129. ISBN 978-0956007599.
1 2 3 4 Bull, Andy (26 December 2018). "Jimmy Peters: race pioneer of English rugby who emerged from the circus". theguardian.com . Retrieved 26 December 2018.
1 2 Harding, John (26 June 2016). "Bristol Rugby". Sunday Independent (Plymouth). p. 59.

Sources

Nadine Fletcher, PLAYER PROFILE- Jimmy Peters, World Rugby Museum: from the vaults (January 29, 2015)

External links

Saints Heritage Society profile

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[1895allthat-1] 1 2 3 Collins, Tony (2009). 1895 & all that…: Inside rugby league's hidden history. p. 129. ISBN 978-0956007599.

[guardian-2] 1 2 3 4 Bull, Andy (26 December 2018). "Jimmy Peters: race pioneer of English rugby who emerged from the circus". theguardian.com . Retrieved 26 December 2018.

[harding-3] 1 2 Harding, John (26 June 2016). "Bristol Rugby". Sunday Independent (Plymouth). p. 59.