David J. Bishop (born 31 October 1960), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Bish", is a Welsh former 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 then

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. As a scrum-half in rugby union, he made his first-class début for Ebbw Vale where he was outstanding. He then joined

Pontypool Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...

in 1981, but not long after broke his neck. Despite being told he would never play again, he was back playing for Pontypool within a year. He only gained one cap for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

– against

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 ...

during the

1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland The 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of eighteen matches played by the Australia national rugby union team (the Wallabies) in Britain and Ireland between 17 October and 15 December 1984. The Australian team won ...

which Wales lost 28–9. Despite the loss Bishop was the only player to score a try against them. Bishop had played understudy to fellow scrum-half

Terry Holmes Terence David "Terry" Holmes (born 10 March 1957) is a Welsh former rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who won 25 caps for as a scrum-half, and later played rugby league for Bradford Northern. Holmes was a highly physical ...

, and when Holmes switched codes to rugby league in 1985, many expected Bishop to finally be given his chance to play for Wales permanently. However, during a match versus Newbridge, Chris Jarman received a broken jaw in an off-the ball incident. Jarman brought a private prosecution resulting in Bishop being given a suspended jail sentence and an eleven-month ban by the WRU.David Bishop ban
The Welsh selectors instead picked Robert Jones of

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

. Bishop however gained his revenge in 1987-88 when Pontypool defeated Swansea at Pontypool Park in the cup, the highlight of the game being Bishop's penalty in the mud to seal the win, following which Bishop wiggled his rear end to the stand—where the Welsh selectors were sitting. Despite repeatedly putting in outstanding performances for Pontypool, Bishop was never picked for Wales again, though his case was not helped by several of Bishop's antics off the field. The 1987-1988 season was the most successful in the club's history when they lost only two games all season and Bishop formed a potent partnership with

Mark Ring Mark Gerarde Ring (born 15 October 1962) played rugby union for Cardiff, Pontypool and Wales between 1982 and 1996. He was regarded as among the most gifted players of his generation but his career was hampered by serious injury. Club career ...

. Finally in 1988 Bishop was lured to rugby league and he signed 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 ...

List of Hull Kingston Rovers players Hull Kingston Rovers is an English rugby league club, and prior to the 1897–98 Northern Rugby Football Union season, 1897–98 (being elected to the Yorkshire Senior Competition for the 1899–1900 Northern Rugby Football Union season, 1899–19 ...

Heritage No 868, and subsequently played for

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

and London Crusaders. He was then part of the

rugby league team that won a

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

and reached the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup was held during October in the United Kingdom. It was the eleventh staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was marketed as the Halifax Centenary World Cup, reflecting the tournament's sponsorship and the fact ...

's semi-finals. When rugby union became openly professional in 1995, Bishop returned to Pontypool as

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. Although Pontypool had been relegated from the top flight of rugby in Wales in 1995. Two highlights during this period were saving Pontypool from relegation from Division 1 with a victory over UWIC and the 16–15 win over

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Castell-Nedd) is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the WRU Championship. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with onl ...

in the Welsh Cup in 1999. Pontypool then played

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in the next round of the cup, where they were heavily defeated, but Bishop faced his old adversary Robert Jones for the last time.

References

External links

Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, David 1960 births Living people Dual-code rugby internationals Ebbw Vale RFC players Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players London Broncos players Players of British baseball Pontypool RFC coaches Pontypool RFC players Rugby articles needing expert attention Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby union players from Cardiff Salford Red Devils players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players