Cecil Bruce "CB" Jennings (16 August 1914 – 2 October 1989) was a South African

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 ...

player.

Biography

Jennings was educated at

Dale College Dale College Boys' High School (Simply often known as ''Dale College'') is a State school, public English language, English medium high school for boys situated in the town of Qonce in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa; It is one of the ...

King Williams Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...

and as a schoolboy already played provincial rugby for in 1934. He played four provincial games in the

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, a season in which Border shared the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

with . He later became the captain of Border and shortly before the

Second World War 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 ...

he moved to the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

where he worked on mines and was selected to play for the . In 1937 Jennings toured with the Springboks to Australia and New Zealand. He played his only test match for during the New Zealand leg of the tour, in the first test against the

All Blacks 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 ...

on 14 August 1937 in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. He also played ten tour matches and scored three tries. During the War he served in the

Rand Light Infantry The Rand Light Infantry (RLI) is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve unit or United States Army National Guard unit. History Origin The history o ...

in North Africa. He was a captain in the infantry and during a skirmish was wounded in both legs, causing him to spend months in hospital. After the war he returned to Johannesburg and coached the rugby team of the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

. in the mid-1950s he returned to King Williams Town and became involved in the activities of Dale College and served on the school board for several years. He also became a selector and coach of Border and also served five terms as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of King Williams Town. The rugby field at Dale College was named the CB Jennings rugby field in his honour.

Test history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, CB 1914 births 1989 deaths South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Border Bulldogs players Golden Lions players Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Rugby union props Alumni of Dale College Boys' High School

Biography

Test history

See also

References