John Stanley Francomb (1873–1915) 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 ...

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 ...

forward who played club rugby for

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and Sale. Francomb played international rugby for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

on their 1899 tour of Australia.

Rugby career

Of the 1899 touring British Team, Francomb is one of the least reported members. Tour captain

Matthew Mullineux Matthew Mullineux MC (8 August 1867 – 13 February 1945) was an English rugby union scrum-half who, although not capped for England, was selected for two British Lions tours. He gained one cap during the 1896 tour to South Africa and cap ...

, described Francomb as 'an old Oxford man', though there is no record of him representing the Oxford University team in any of

the Varsity Match The Varsity Match is an annual rugby union fixture played between the universities of Oxford University RFC, Oxford and Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Cambridge in England. The event began in 1872 with the first men's match, with interruptions ...

es. Mullineux goes on to describe Francomb as '...very tall, and wants a lot of stopping when he gets "going"'; common traits for early forward players. At the time of the Australian tour, Francomb was playing club rugby for Manchester and county rugby for Lancashire. Francomb played in nine matches of the Australia tour, which included one Test against the Australian national team. Francomb was not selected for the first game of the tour, but played in the second game against the

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, ...

. He kept his placed for the next game played against a Metropolitan team before he played his one and only international game, in the First Test against Australia. The tourists lost 13–3, and Mullineux reacted by dropping himself, Francomb and

Esmond Martelli Arthur Esmonde Martelli (16 June 1878 – 1926) was an Irish international rugby union fullback back who played club rugby for Dublin University. Martelli played international rugby for the British Isles team on its 1899 tour of Australia. He w ...

from future Test games. Despite being dropped from the Test games, Francomb played in six further matches against invitational and state teams. During the 1898/99 season Francomb was also invited to join British touring team the Barbarians. The next notable rugby event Francomb was involved in took place six years later, when he was playing for Sale; he was chosen to play for the Cheshire team to face the 1905 New Zealand team on their tour of Britain.Q9. Who played for the Cheshire team against the All blacks on 9 December 1905
rugbyfootballhistory.com

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francomb, John 1873 births 1915 deaths Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England English rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Blackburn