Douglas Versailles Phillips (28 June 1919 – 28 April 2000) was a Welsh

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 it ...

, 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 11 ...

footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played representative level rugby union for Glamorgan (two occasions), and at club level for

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 T ...

. Having switched codes to rugby league he played representative level rugby league for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

; and at club level for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

( Heritage № 479) and Belle Vue Rangers, as a .

Early life

Phillips was born in Neath, Wales on the day the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

was signed and as a result was given the middle name of Versailles. As a schoolboy he played rugby union for Neath Schoolboys and was playing for

's first team when aged only 18. Two appearances for Glamorgan followed as well as two trials for the Welsh national side 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 opposi ...

intervened and Phillips joined the army. During the war Phillips played for the Combined Services XV and featured in a rugby union match at Odsal Stadium, Bradford in April 1944 against the Combined Services rugby league XV. Phillips scored the opening try of the game although the league XV ran out 15–10 winners. Opposing Phillips in the rugby league XV were three players he would later tour Australia and New Zealand with; Ernest Ward, Ike Owens and Trevor Foster. Phillips performance in this game brought him to the attention of several rugby league clubs and he signed for Oldham towards the end of 1944.

Rugby league playing career

Club career

Phillips début for Oldham was on 17 February 1945 in a 16–0 victory over Batley. His army service presented Phillips from playing regularly and by the end of the 1945–46 season he had made only eight appearances for Oldham but had done enough to be called up to play both for Wales and Great Britain. Following his return from Australia and New Zealand in September 1946 Phillips played 10 more games for Oldham before being transferred to Belle Vue Rangers in January 1947 for a £1,000 transfer fee. Remaining with Belle Vue Rangers until 1953, Phillips made 253 appearances for the team scoring 28 tries. He made one appearance in the Lancashire County Cup final as Rangers lost 7–10 against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

in the 1947–48 final at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

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 ...

on 1 November 1947. He retired from rugby league in April 1953 and returned to Neath.

International career

Phillips was first selected to play for

in 1945 and went on to win 10 caps between 1945 and 1951 scoring a try in a game against

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 ...

in 1949. Phillips was also selected to play for Great Britain and was a member of both the 1946 and

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

touring teams to Australia and New Zealand being capped four times (three in 1946, one in 1950) against Australia.

Early life

Rugby league playing career

Club career

International career

References

Further reading