Frank Douglas Prentice (21 September 1898 – 3 October 1962) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 and administrator who played 239 games for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

between 1923 and 1931, was captain of the 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia and served as Secretary of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

between 1947 and 1962.

Playing career

Despite attending a rugby playing school in Leicester Prentice was a keen footballer in his youth. During The First World War he served with the Royal Artillery and, when posted to France, joined the ANZACs whose enthusiasm for rugby converted him. He was badly wounded at Passchendaele in 1917. Prentice began his rugby career with local side Westleigh, at the time Leicester was strictly an invitation only club and his debut for side came on 26 November 1923 away to

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

, Tigers lost 37–6 but Prentice scored one of Leicester's two tries. Prentice quickly established himself in the Leicester's first choice side playing 24 of the season's 30 remaining games. Forwards' positions were not specialized in this period and he is recorded simply as playing "forward" until the 1927–28 season. From then onward Prentice is recorded as having mainly played prop for Leicester, despite his international caps coming at either Number 8 or Lock. Prentice was a regular try scorer for Leicester scoring 7 tries in his first season and 8 in 31 games the next. By 1926 Prentice had become Leicester's secondary goal-kicker, taking the duties when club captain Harold Day was not selected. He succeeded Day as both captain and place-kicker for the 1928–29 season where he was top scorer with 134 points in 31 games and on 11 February 1928 made his international debut for in a 7–6 win over at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

. Prentice played in England's next two games against and to secure the

1928 Five Nations Championship The 1928 Five Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the forty-f ...

and the grandslam. Leicester did not prosper however recording more losses than wins for the first time since 1889–90. His second season as captain saw a return to regular winning ways; Tigers won 26 of their 39 games whilst Prentice was again top scorer with 106 points in 26 matches. Prentice was selected to take part in the 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, and after former Tigers teammate

Wavell Wakefield William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal (10 March 1898 – 12 August 1983), known as Sir Wavell Wakefield between 1944 and 1963, was an English rugby union player for Harlequins, Leicester Tigers and England, President of the ...

was forced to withdraw he also became captain of the tour. At the age of 34 and past his prime playing days Prentice only played in 12 of the 29 matches. He did captain the side in the second test against the New Zealanders and the sole test against , both of which were lost. He returned from the tour and played a final season for Leicester, featuring in 24 games he top-scored with 104 points despite missing the first 13 whilst on the Lions tour. On 18 April 1931 he was given the honour of captaining the side in his final appearance, a 25–5 win against

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 ...

at Welford Road.

Administration career

After retiring from playing rugby in 1931 Prentice moved into the administration of the game. He became an national team selector in 1932 and was manager of the

1936 British Lions tour to Argentina The 1936 British Lions tour of Argentina was a series of rugby union matches arranged between the British Lions and various Argentine teams. The tourists played ten matches, nine of which were against club and combined teams while one match to ...

. He became Secretary of the

in 1947, at this point he stopped being a selector for the national side, and held the position for 15 years until ill health forced him to retire in 1962. During 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 served in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

and was taken prisoner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prentice, Doug 1898 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Leicester 20th-century British businesspeople Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II British World War II prisoners of war England international rugby union players English rugby union administrators English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys Royal Army Service Corps officers Royal Artillery personnel Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Leicester