Rugby career
Walker came to note as a rugby player when he represented Instonians. During the 1934/35 season, he was also selected to play for invitational tourists, the Barbarians.[3] He won his first international cap when he was selected for the Irish national team during the 1934 Home Nations Championship. he won 15 caps for his country between 1934 and 1938, and captained the team in his final international game, against Wales, at Swansea.
In 1938 he was selected to captain the British Isles team on their tour of South Africa. He is recognised as an able captain, who managed to sustain good morale in a British team that was devastated by injuries.[4] He also fostered an open style of play that resulted in exciting and free scoring matches, which delighted the South African spectators.[4] Walker showed excellent fitness himself during the tour, and was able to lead the British team out for 17 invitational games and all three Tests against the South African national team. On the tour he usually played his favoured role as prop, alongside Bunner Travers.
References
- Griffiths, John (1987). The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records. London: Phoenix House. ISBN 0-460-07003-7.
- Griffiths, John (1990). British Lions. Swindon: Crowood Press. ISBN 1-85223-541-1.
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To 1900 |
- Feb 1875: G.H. Stack
- Dec 1875: R.J. Bell
- Feb 1877: R. Galbraith
- Feb 1877: W.H. Wilson
- Mar 1878: R.B. Walkington
- 1879: W.C. Neville
- 1880: H.C. Kelly
- 1881–Jan 1882: A.J. Forrest
- Feb 1882: J.W. Taylor
- 1883: G. Scriven
- Feb 1884: J.A. McDonald
- Mar 1884: D.F. Moore
- Feb 1885: W.G. Rutherford
- Mar 1885: A.J. Forrest
- Feb 1886: M. Johnston
- Feb 1886: J.P. Ross
- 1887: R.G. Warren
- Feb–Mar 1888: H.J. Neill
- Dec 1888–90: R.G. Warren
- Feb–Mar 1891: Dolway Walkington
- Mar 1891: R. Stevenson
- 1892: Victor Le Fanu
- 1893: S. Lee
- 1894: E.G. Forrest
- Feb 1895: J.H. O'Conor
- Mar 1895: C.V. Rooke
- Mar 1895: E.G. Forrest
- 1896: S. Lee
- 1897: E.G. Forrest
- Feb 1898: S. Lee
- Feb 1898: G.G. Allen
- Mar 1898: W. Gardiner
- 1899–1900: Louis Magee
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To the First World War |
- 1901: Louis Magee
- Feb 1902: J. Fulton
- Mar 1902: Louis Magee
- 1903–Feb 1904: Harry Corley
- Mar 1904–06: C.E. Allen
- Feb 1906: Alfred Tedford
- Feb 1906–07: C.E. Allen
- Feb 1908: Harry Thrift
- Feb–Mar 1908: James Parke
- Feb 1909: Fred Gardiner
- Mar 1909: George Hamlet
- Mar 1909: Fred Gardiner
- Feb 1910: George Hamlet
- Mar 1910: Tom Smyth
- Mar 1910–11: George Hamlet
- Jan 1912: Dickie Lloyd
- Feb 1912: Alexander Foster
- Feb 1912–Feb 1914: Dickie Lloyd
- Feb–Mar 1914: Alexander Foster
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To the Second World War | |
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To the Professional Era | |
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To the Present Day | |
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To 1910 | |
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To present | |
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Notes | Note 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident, Andrew Stoddart, became captain for the remainder of the tour.
Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain.
Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain.
Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was denoted as the Combined British team by its Argentine hosts because it also included three Scots.
Note 5: Jack Jones captained the first test only, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain.
Note 6: Bleddyn Williams captained in the third and fourth tests v New Zealand and the first test v Australia.
Note 7: Cliff Morgan captained in the third test.
Note 8: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff. Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test. Martin Corry and Gareth Thomas took over captaincy on the field but O'Driscoll remained tour captain.
Note 9: Sam Warburton was injured in the second test and ruled out of the third. Alun Wyn Jones replaced him as captain for the third test.
Note 10: Tour captain Sam Warburton was named on the bench for the first test. Peter O'Mahony replaced him as test captain on the field. |
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