Anthony Starks (11 August 1873 – January 1952) was an English dual-code 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 its m ...

, and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1890s and 1900s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and at club level for

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

RUFC, as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

and

, and at club level for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

(

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

), as a

(prior to the specialist positions of; ), during the era of contested

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

s. England's Anthony Starks, and Wales'

Jack Rhapps John "Jack" Rhapps (15 July 1876 – 23 January 1950) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Penygraig, and international rugby for Wales. Rhapps later "Went North", when he turned professional, joining rugby l ...

took the field in the inaugural rugby league international of Tuesday 5 April 1904 between England and Other Nationalities. Starks had made two rugby union Test appearances for England in 1896, and Rhapps had made a single rugby union Test appearance for Wales in 1897, and thus in April 1904 they became the world's first dual-code rugby internationals.

Background

Anthony Starks' birth was registered in

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, England, and his death aged 78 was registered in Hull,

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England.

Playing career

International honours

Anthony Starks won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

(RU) while at Castleford in the 25–0 victory over Wales at

Rectory Field Rectory Field is a sports ground in Blackheath in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. It was developed in the 1880s by Blackheath Cricket, Football and Lawn Tennis Company and became the home ground of rugby union team Blackheath ...

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

on 4 January 1896, and the 4–10 defeat by Ireland at Meanwood Road,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on 1 February 1896, and won a

playing as a

, i.e number 8 (in an experimental 12-a-side team), and was

for

(RL) while at Hull Kingston Rovers in the 3–9 defeat by

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

on Tuesday 5 April 1904, in the first ever international rugby league match.

County honours

Anthony Starks won

s for

(RU) while at Castleford in 1895–96. and he won

s for

(RL) while at

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Anthony Starks played as a

, i.e. number 8, in

' 0-6 defeat by

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1904–05 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

Rugby Stadium,

on Saturday 29 April 1905, in front of a crowd of 19,638.Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 9 – 1904–05". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starks, Anthony 1873 births 1952 deaths Castleford R.U.F.C. players Dual-code rugby internationals England international rugby union players England national rugby league team captains England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English rugby union players Hull Kingston Rovers captains Hull Kingston Rovers players Rugby league forwards Rugby league players from Castleford Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Castleford Yorkshire County RFU players Yorkshire rugby league team players