Arthur Tudor Young (14 October 1901 – 26 February 1933) was an English

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 ...

scrum-half who played for both

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 the British Lions. At 5 ft 4ins he was affectionately known as England's ''little man''.

Personal history

Young was born in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

, India in 1901. As a child he moved to Britain and was educated at

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

before matriculating to

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

. On leaving education he joined the British Army, serving in the

Royal Tank Corps The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

. Later in his career he was Aide-de-camp to Sir

Norman MacMullen General Sir Cyril Norman MacMullen, KCB, CMG, CIE, DSO (13 December 1877 – 12 November 1944) was a British officer in the British Indian Army. Early life MacMullen was born in Delhi to Col. Frederic Wood MacMullen and Mary Eleanora Ward. M ...

while he was General Officer Commanding Eastern Command in India. While serving in India he contracted influenza and died in 1933 from pneumonia at the age of 31.

Rugby career

Young began playing rugby as a youth, turning out for Tunbridge School. On entering Cambridge he joined

Cambridge University R.U.F.C. The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, sometimes abbreviated "CURUFC", is the rugby union club of the University of Cambridge. The team plays Oxford University RFC in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham Stadium every December. ...

earning three sporting Blues when he faced Oxford in three Varsity matches between 1922-24. After leaving university he joined

Blackheath F.C. Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London. The club was founded in Blackheath, London, Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Du ...

and also represented Kent at county level. In 1924 he was selected for the England national team, facing Wales in the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. Young went on to represent England on 18 occasions, scoring two tries. 1924 also saw Young selected for the British Lions on their

1924 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1924 British Isles tour to South Africa was the tenth tour by a British Isles team and the fifth to South Africa. The tour is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 195 ...

. He played in nine games of the tour and faced

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the second Test in Johannesburg, which the Lions lost 17-0. During his time in the British Army, Young represented the Army rugby team ten times between 1926 and 1929. Young was also a long-serving member of invitational touring side

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, p ...

, first playing with the club in 1920, long before his international career started. He represented the Barbarians 12 times, his final match being against East Midlands in 1929.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Arthur 1901 births 1933 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England People educated at Tonbridge School Blackheath F.C. players Barbarian F.C. players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Royal Tank Regiment officers Deaths from pneumonia in India Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Army rugby union players 20th-century British Army personnel Kent County RFU players