John Henry Gore (16 June 1899 – 18 March 1971) 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
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
flanker who played
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 ...
for
Blaina
Blaina ( cy, Blaenau ) is a small town, situated deep within the South Wales Valleys between Brynmawr and Abertillery in the unitary authority of Blaenau Gwent, ancient parish of Aberystruth, preserved county of Gwent and historic county of ...
and
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 ...
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 ...
.
His son,
Billy Gore
William Gore (19 November 1919 – 13 April 2010) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Newbridge RFC, as a h ...
, played international rugby for
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played thei ...
the same as his father.
Rugby career
Gore played all his rugby union for the unfashionable lower level club Blaina, though during this period the Welsh selectors would often choose tough manual workers to represent the forward positions. Gore first represented Wales in the
1924 Five Nations Championship
The 1924 Five Nations Championship was the tenth 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 thirty-seven ...
in a match 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 ...
against
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Under the captaincy of
Jack Wetter
Jack Wetter DCM (29 December 1887 – 29 July 1967) was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby predominantly for Newport. He was captain for both his club and country and earned 10 caps for Wales.
Wetter's rugby career ...
, Gore found himself on the losing team which stopped a run of 9 successive home wins for Wales. His second game was against France and although a win for Wales, it was a poor Welsh performance caused by players being thrown out of position by the selectors decision to suspend
Ossie Male
Ossie Male (31 December 1893 – 23 February 1975)
Scrum.com was a Wales, Welsh international full back who played club rugby fo ...
on the trip to Paris. Gore was selected later in the year to face the
touring New Zealand team. Wales were totally outclassed by the All Blacks, though the forwards put on a spirited display.
[Billot (1972), pg 68.]
The next year Gore played his final game for Wales, when he faced England during the
1925 Championship. Wales lost the game 12–6, and Gore played no further international union games. He switched codes to the professional league game when he joined Salford later in 1925.
[Bale, John; The Global Sports Arena: Athletic talent migration in the interdependent world. Routledge pg28 ]
Salford
Whilst
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of Salford he played for both the
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 ...
and
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 ...
positioned at , i.e. number 13, during the era of contested
scrum
Scrum may refer to:
Sport
* Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league
** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union
* Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi
Media and popular culture
* M ...
s.
Many say that he played for the Great Britain rugby league team as he was of Welsh birth and was not the only Welshman to play for this team, however local Salford newspaper reports of the day clearly record: To Jack Gore our Captain, we offer our very hearty congratulations on his selection as Loose Forward for 'England' on the occasion of the Third and Final Test against the ''All Blacks'' to be played at Leeds, on 15 January 1927. This match of course depends upon what transpires at the League Councils Meeting, held on Wednesday last. This honour, by the way is not unexpected, when having read ''Old Stagers'' report of the recent Wales v. ''All Blacks'', an extract from the ''South Wales News'' which is as follows: GORE, a forward who would be an acquisition to any pack of Forwards - on his showing at Pontypridd. Gore is one of the greatest Forwards Wales has ever produced - would secure a 'place' in any National side for which he was qualified
Gore qualified to play for England because of his father's nationality.
Jack made his début for Salford against St Helens on 28 February 1925 as a before quickly being switched to with great effect. Gore made 125 appearances for Salford between 1925 and 1928 scoring 29 tries. He played his last game for Salford at Barrow on 9 April 1928.
Wigan Highfield
He transferred to
Wigan Highfield
Liverpool Stanley was a semi-professional rugby league club from Liverpool, England. It was renamed Liverpool City in 1951, but was otherwise unrelated to the original Liverpool club of the same name. The club's origins date back to 1880 when i ...
during the close season. Gore then played for Wigan Highfield from 1928 until 1932 making 109 appearances and scoring 17 tries.
Monmouthshire
Jack Gore played in
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
's 14-18 defeat by
Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
in the non-
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
match during the
1926–27 season at
Taff Vale Park
Taff Vale Park is a rugby union ground and former greyhound racing track in Treforest, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Taff Vale Park is situated on the River Taff at the end of Nile Street in Treforest. It was originally fields adjacent ...
,
Pontypridd
() (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Geography
comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...
on Saturday 30 April 1927.
[Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 32 – 1926–27". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a]
Retirement
Gore returned to his birth town where he ran the Kings Head
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
lic house, High Street, Blaina. Gore was often suspected of being a rugby league spy for Salford. It is reported that he was instrumental in spotting the great
Dai Watkins, also from Blaina, who followed Gore to Salford after his days as a Welsh International rugby star.
International rugby union matches played
Wales
[Smith (1980), pg 466.]
* 19 January 1924. Played at St Helens, Swansea, WALES 9 ENGLAND 17
* 8 March 1924. Cardiff Arms Park, WALES 10 IRELAND 13
* 27 March 1924 Colombes, Paris. FRANCE 6 WALES 10
* 29 November 1924. St Helens Swansea. WALES 0 NEW ZEALAND 19
Gore was also a Reserve on 2 February 1924. Played at Inverieth, Edinburgh, SCOTLAND 35 WALES 10
International rugby league matches played
Wales
* 1927, 1928
* 6 December 1926. Played at
Taff Vale Park
Taff Vale Park is a rugby union ground and former greyhound racing track in Treforest, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Taff Vale Park is situated on the River Taff at the end of Nile Street in Treforest. It was originally fields adjacent ...
Pontypridd (att 18,000). WALES 34 NEW ZEALAND 8 (Gore scored 2 tries)
England
* 15 January 1927. Leeds
Bibliography
*
*
*
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:Gore, Jack
1899 births
1971 deaths
Blaina RFC players
British publicans
Dual-code rugby internationals
Great Britain national rugby league team players
Liverpool City (rugby league) players
Monmouthshire rugby league team players
Rugby league locks
Rugby league players from Blaina
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union players from Blaina
Salford Red Devils captains
Salford Red Devils players
Wales international rugby union players
Welsh miners
Wales national rugby league team players
Welsh rugby league players
Welsh rugby union players