Alan Augustus Adams (8 May 1883 – 28 July 1963) was a New Zealand-born sportsman who played international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School 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 it ...

for England. He also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for Otago and was a rugby selector for the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

and served as president of the

New Zealand Rugby Football Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

.Alan Adams
CricInfo. Retrieved 31 December 2021.

Early life

Adams was born at

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

in New Zealand in 1883 and studied at

Otago University , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, captaining the university rugby side and playing for Otago representative sides as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

and outside half.Football
''Otago Daily Times'', 26 August 1915, p. 8. Retrieved 3 January 2022. He was described in 1909 as "one of the finest centres Otago has produced". Adams left New Zealand to study medicine at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

in London. While in London studying medicine, Adams was called up to the England national rugby union team. He was capped for the first and only time in their eight-point win over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

at the Parc des Princes. The fixture was part of England's championship winning 1910 Five Nations campaign. In England he played club rugby for London Hospitals and

Rosslyn Park F.C. Rosslyn Park Football Club is a rugby union club based in south west London. History Founded in 1879 by cricketing friends in north London, at the end of their first season, Charles Hoyer Millar proposed forming a football club to keep the p ...

He made two first-class cricket appearances for Otago. A batsman, he played both of his first-class matches against

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, the first in January 1906 and the second in January 1908, scoring a total of 41 runs, with a highest score of 21. Adams is also known to have played for the side in a non first-class match against a touring

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, ...

side in March 1906.

War service and later life

Adams served in the British Armed Forces during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Having initially joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in London in September 1914, he was discharged in December that year to enable him to take up a commission as a lieutenant in the

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...

. He served with the regiment in northern France and the Gallipoli campaign, during which he was injured. He was promoted to captain and discharged in 1920 after the end of the war. He returned to New Zealand, where he was appointed a selector for the West Coast rugby union and later for the New Zealand national rugby team. He was elected President of the New Zealand Rugby Union in 1929–30.Dr Adams is new N.Z. President
''Star'' (Christchurch), 11 April 1930, p. 4. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Adams died at Greymouth in 1963, aged 83.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Alan 1883 births New Zealand rugby union players England international rugby union players New Zealand cricketers Otago cricketers 1963 deaths 20th-century New Zealand medical doctors Rugby union centres