Glyn Prosser (27 November 1907 – 13 November 1972) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

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 ...

flanker who played club rugby for

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 ...

, and was capped four times 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 ...

. An aggressive wing forward, Prosser is best known for being a member of the Wales team that beat the touring

New Zealanders New Zealanders ( mi, Tāngata Aotearoa), colloquially known as Kiwis (), are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common history, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citiz ...

in 1935.

Personal

He was the older brother of Dai Prosser. He was educated at Crown School, Glynneath. His occupation had been a miner.

Rugby Union career

Prosser first played rugby for his home town,

Glynneath Glynneath ( cy, Glyn-nedd "valley of the River Neath"), also spelt ''Glyn-neath'' and ''Glyn Neath'', is a small town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in th ...

, before moving to first class side Neath. It was with Neath that Prosser first played against international opposition, when he was chosen for a joint Neath /

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...

team to face the touring South Africans in 1931. It was a very close game that was 3-3, when in a final attack, the South Africans scored the winning try. Prosser trialled for the Wales team as early as the 1931/32 seasonBillot (1974), pg 166. but did not gain his first cap until the

1934 Home Nations Championship The 1934 Home Nations Championship was the thirtieth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Five Nations, and prior to that, the Home Nations, this was the forty-seventh series of the nort ...

, when he was selected to face England. The match was played at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

under the captaincy of first time international John Evans, and the inexperienced Welsh team were poor in comparison to England. Out of 13 new caps on the day, five, including Evans, never played for Wales again, but Prosser returned in the next two games of the tournament, now led by the more reliable

Claude Davey Claude Davey (14 December 1908 – 18 February 2001) was a Wales international rugby union player who played club rugby for several teams, most notably Sale and Swansea. He was awarded 23 caps for Wales and captained his country eight times. Dave ...

. Although Wales won these two games, Prosser was not reselected for the next years Championship. In 1935, Prosser was given another chance to face international tourist when Neath joined up with Aberavon again to face the touring All Blacks. Although the joint team lost to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Prosser brought his familiar style of offensive forward play through the All Black back division,Billot (1972), pg 103. and did enough to gain the favour of the Welsh selectors. Prosser played his final game for Wales one week later when he was chosen to face the same touring New Zealanders. It was a famous win for Wales, even though they lost their hooker with a broken neck ten minutes before the end of the game.

Rugby League career

In 1936, Prosser severed his ties with rugby union by signing for 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 112 ...

club

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 470. * 1934 * 1934 * 1934 * 1935

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prosser, Glyn 1907 births 1972 deaths Glynneath RFC players Huddersfield Giants players Neath RFC players Rugby league players from Neath Port Talbot Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Glynneath Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players