Harry Peacock (14 February 1909 – 6 March 1996) 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

for Newport. He won six caps 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 ...

and faced two international touring teams with Newport. Peacock played with several club and invitational teams throughout his rugby career. His first major club team was

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 ...

, before moving to Newport in 1925. While with Newport, Peacock faced the touring

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

in 1927 and he was chosen to play against the 1931 touring

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics Sout ...

. As a police officer he was also selected to play with police teams such as the Monmouthshire Police and also turned out for invitational team Crawshays

Personal history

Born in Newport in 1909, Peacock was educated at St Woolos School and then Municipal Secondary School. From school he became an apprentice engineer before then joining the Monmouthshire Constabulary as a police officer. He joined the British Army in 1943, remaining in the Forces until 1946, holding the rank of major on demobilisation. He was seconded to the Allied Military Government for Germany, where he served for 11 years. On retirement he moved to Jersey, dying in France in 1996.

International career

Peacock was first capped for Wales against Scotland on 2 February 1929 at St Helens. Wales beat the Scottish team, and in doing so denied the Scots the Grand Slam. Peacock scored a try on his debut and was selected to play in the next two games of the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

under the captaincy of Guy Morgan. The next season Peacock was not selected for the opening game of the

1930 Five Nations Championship The 1930 Five Nations Championship was the sixteenth 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-th ...

against England, but again was selected for the remaining games against Scotland, Ireland and France. Although losing to Scotland, Wales won the next two games. During the game against Ireland, Peacock scored a joint try with Swansea's Howie Jones; both men dived for the ball and the referee could not decide on the actual scorer. The record books show the try as a joint score. The final game of the tournament was against France and Wales won an overly violent match to finish the Championship in second place behind England. This was Peacock's last game for Wales.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 470. * 1929, 1930 * 1929, 1930 * 1929, 1930

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock, Harry 1909 births 1996 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Crawshays RFC players Newport RFC players Rugby union players from Newport, Wales Pontypool RFC players Rugby union flankers Wales international rugby union players Welsh police officers Welsh rugby union players category:Monmouthshire Constabulary officers