Herbert Leo Price (21 June 1899 – 18 July 1943) was a sportsman and schoolmaster. He achieved the unusual feat of playing

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 ...

and

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

for England on consecutive Saturdays. He also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

with

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

and club rugby for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins. In rugby, Price, a flanker, won his first two international caps for

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 the 1922 Five Nations Championship with appearances against Ireland and Scotland. In the Championship the following year, Price helped his country to claim the Grand Slam and scored tries when England played Wales and Ireland. Price played 17 games for Leicester Tigers between 1922 and 1927, and though injury disrupted his career he continued playing for the Harlequins until 1932. The sportsman played two first-class cricket matches during the 1920s, both for

. He debuted against the Army in 1920, opening the batting and made 14 followed by a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

(zero). His performance in his next match, against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

in 1922, was little better; and he again scored a duck opening the batting but improved in the second innings with 32 not out. His elder brother

Vincent Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

, also an outstanding athlete at Oxford, played beside him in the Middlesex match. After Oxford, Price played for the

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Will ...

. On leaving school he had joined the Artists Rifles but was commissioned too late to see active service. He then went up to

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

, with a mathematics exhibition and graduated with honours in 1922. Price was an all-round sportsman at Oxford, winning a

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

for rugby in 1921 and 1922, a half-blue for

in 1920, 1921 and 1922, and a half-blue for

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

in the four years from 1919 to 1922. He was also capped by the Harlequins, the Oxford University wandering cricket club. After coming down he became a schoolmaster at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. The headma ...

for two years, and then at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

where he was a junior and then a senior housemaster. In 1932, he became headmaster of

Bishop's Stortford College Bishop's Stortford College is a independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition for more than 1,200 pupils aged 4–18, situated in a campus on the edge of the market town of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, Englan ...

where he himself had been a pupil. He was headmaster until his death after an operation, aged 44.

References

External links

Cricinfo: Herbert Price
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Leo 1899 births 1943 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford England international rugby union players English cricketers English rugby union players Heads of schools in England Leicester Tigers players Oxford University cricketers Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Sutton, London Schoolteachers from Surrey