| Birth name | John Anderson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Hawick, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Anderson was a Scotland international rugby union player. He later was signed by the Huddersfield Giants to play rugby league.
A native of Hawick, Anderson played for the Army and the Combined Services side during the Second World War. [1] He later moved on to play for London Scottish. [2]
He played for Scotland Probables against Scotland Possibles in the trial match of 15 December 1945. [3]
He was capped only once for Scotland on 19 January 1946. This was a non-cap match at the time but the SRU gave it full cap status in 2024. [4]
Anderson played for Scotland against the All Blacks touring side, which at the time were designated a New Zealand Army side. The match against Scotland proved the All Blacks only defeat of their tour with Anderson scoring two tries in a 11 - 6 win. [5]
Not surprisingly, after scoring two tries against the All Blacks, the professional sides of England's Rugby League wanted to snap Anderson up in a move to the code of Rugby League. Leeds, Halifax, Oldham and Huddersfield all made moves to sign him. [1]
Huddersfield won the race for his signature on 21 January 1946, only two days after his Scotland international match against the New Zealand Army. [6] [7] It was billed as 'the biggest capture in post-war history'. [8]
With Anderson in tow, Huddersfield reached that year's Championship final against Wigan on 18 May 1946; [9] Wigan won the match 13 - 4.
Huddersfield did, however, win the 1949 Championship title with Anderson assisting in Huddersfield's last try of the final by Deverey. Huddersfield won the match and the title 13 - 12. [10]
Anderson was a keen sprinter and ran in the Powderhall Sprint. [1]
On the start of World War 2, Anderson joined the Army. He was a Prisoner of War in German hands for 3 years. The POW camp was in Czechoslovakia. [1] [8]