Arthur Edward Joseph Tonkin (19 October 1922 – c. 1991) was an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

national representative

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 its m ...

footballer who featured in the 1947–48 Wallaby tour of the British Isles.

Early life

Tonkin's father was one of the pioneers of the

New South Wales Country Rugby League The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rug ...

but made no attempt to influence his three children on which sports they should play. Arthur went to Wagga Wagga Christian Brothers' and later to

St. Joseph's College, Hunters Hill , motto_translation = Strive Strive for better things , established = , type = Independent single-sex secondary day and boarding school , educational_authority = New South Wales Department of Educat ...

where he benefited under Brother Henry, the College's legendary coach of the 1930s. He won the

GPS Schools The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS) is a sporting association of boys' schools in New South Wales, Australia that contest sporting events among themselves. The AAGPS was formed on 30 March 1892, and t ...

sprint championship in 1942 and was an army sprint champion during his wartime service. He was a gunner in the AIF who saw three years of active service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Club rugby

Tonkin joined the Gordon Club after his discharge and played the first of six matches for

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1947. A powerfully built sprinter he added menace to every team in which he played because of his rare acceleration and scoring potential.City of Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame

Representative rugby career

He missed a place in the Test against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1947 but was selected for that year's epic Wallaby tour and became one of the spearheads of Australia's attack in Britain after champion Manly winger Charlie Eastes broke his leg in an early tour match. Tonkin appeared on the wing in all five Tests of the tour using his blinding acceleration to get around his opposing wingers to score tries against

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and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He was also one of four kickers who figured in the Tests (along with Brain Piper, Trevor Allan and Bob McMaster) kicking two penalties against

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in the Paris Test at

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. Injury affected his representative prospects after the conclusion of the tour but he made a further Test appearance against the British Lions in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1950.

Post playing

Tonkin became a lecturer in physical education after his football career ended and worked at Armidale Teachers' College where he also coached rugby. He retired in 1982, leaving the coaching of college rugby teams to John Hipwell.

Footnotes

References

* ''The Spirit of Rugby'' (1995) A collection of essays, HarperCollins, Australia (Phil Tressider's ''The Class of '47–48'' 1st published Sydney's ''Daily Telegraph'' 1987) * Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ
Tonkin in City of Wagga Sporting Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonkin, Arthur 1922 births 1991 deaths Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players Australian military personnel of World War II Australian schoolteachers Australian soldiers People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill Rugby union players from Wagga Wagga Rugby union wings