Maurice John P. Daly (born August 1914, died 3 November 1994,

Mount Eliza, Victoria Mount Eliza is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Mount Eliza recorded a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) 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 ...

player of

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 ...

football, who played internationally for both

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 ...

and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. Along with

W.B. Young William Young (7 May 1916 - 25 April 2013) was born in Ardrossan and was a Scotland international rugby union player. He later played for the representative East Africa multi-national side. Rugby Union career Amateur career Young played rugby ...

of he is one of only two people to have been capped by a major rugby playing nation and by East Africa.

Prior to World War II

At his senior school, Maurice was a keen rugby player,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er,

track athlete Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

and Rugby

fives Fives is an English sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a 3- or 4-sided special court, using a gloved or bare hand as though it were a racquet, similar to ...

player. After leaving school he played for Old Haberdashers RFC (1932–37) and the

Harlequin F.C. Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London. Foun ...

(1938–39), scoring tries prolifically in both the 15-a-side and 7-a-side versions of the game. He was capped once for on 12 February 1938 playing on the right-wing against at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

. England led 23–0 at half-time but Ireland improved during the second half managing to score four tries (the last of which was scored by Daly), though Ireland were unable to completely overcome the opposition, eventually losing 36–14.

During the war

He was commissioned in the 35th (First Surrey Rifles) Anti-Aircraft Battalion, T.A. in January 1939 and was called up in September of that year. It is believed that Maurice played for Clifton RFC during the 1939–40 season; an Army posting may explain his presence in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

at this time. He saw action in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The war caused much disruption to regular rugby in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

though he continued to play some rugby during this time, turning out for various military units and also for several invitation sides for various charitable causes. After being wounded he became Air Liaison Officer, North West Europe in December 1944 with the rank of major and was awarded the

M.B.E. Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

After the war

After the war he returned to play with Harlequins (1945–48); he captained the Harlequins VII that lost the final of the 1947–48 Middlesex 7's to Wasps 14–5. He was also selected to represent

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

County consistently between 1946 and 1949, captaining the side that lost the 1946/47 semi-final with

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. Sometime in 1949–50, he moved to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

where he continued to play rugby for the

Ruiru Ruiru is a municipality and sub-county in Kiambu County. It sits within the greater Nairobi Metropolitan region. According to the 2019 national population census, Ruiru is the 6th largest urban center in Kenya by population.http://housingfinanc ...

R.F.C. and was awarded a cap by

for a match that he played in 1951. Though the

Rugby Football Union of East Africa The Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) is an umbrella union for the Kenya Rugby Football Union, Tanzania Rugby Football Union and Uganda Rugby Football Union. It owes its existence to the fact that, prior to independence, Kenya, Tanzan ...

(RFUEA) did not exist until 1953, Maurice played for

Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...

(the precursor of the

Kenya national rugby union team The Kenya national rugby union team is also known as the ''Simbas'' (''simba'' is Swahili for 'lion'). Kenya competes in the Africa Cup and is ranked thirty-third in the World Rugby Rankings as of August 2022. Kenya is yet to qualify for the Ru ...

) against the "''

Oxford 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 the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Universities''" touring team in September 1951 at Mitchell Park (now Jamhuri Park),

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. All players on the Kenyan team in that match were awarded backdated East Africa caps after the formation of the RFUEA. Oxford and Cambridge were returning by air from a successful tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and they stopped off to play one final match on the continent. The visitors fielded six international players (Ian J. Botting (), John V. Smith(), Laurie G. Gloag (), Lewis B. Cannell(), John MacG. Kendall-Carpenter () and George C. Rittson-Thomas ()) and three players who were to achieve international status on their return (Chris E. Winn (), Ricky M. Bartlett () and Mike Walker ()) and proved too strong for their hosts, winning 44–5. He met his wife in Kenya and they were married in 1952. They left Kenya during the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

moving to

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, where they lived for 15 years until they finally emigrated to

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daly M. J. Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players 1994 deaths 1914 births Irish emigrants to Australia Members of the Order of the British Empire Harlequin F.C. players British military personnel of World War II British expatriates in Kenya