Philip Joseph Taylor was an

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 ...

rugby union international No.8 winning six caps between 1955 and 1962. He played club rugby for

Wakefield RFC Wakefield RFC was an English rugby union club, founded in 1901 and folded in 2004 as a result of poor finances, with a trading loss of £105,000 for the season and unsecured creditors' loans of approximately £640,000. The club's final season w ...

and

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. Phil Taylor first took up rugby upon visiting College Grove, the home of Wakefield RFC, in 1948 with a friend. Up until then, he had played

water polo Water polo is a 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 ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

. He made his debut for Wakefield RFC during the 1948/49 season but it wasn't until the following season that he became a first team regular. In November 1949 he left the club to join the

Duke of Wellington's Regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...

for his

National service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

training. In April 1951 he was selected for the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

side to play France. He played for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

fifty-four times appearing in the Yorkshire sides that won the

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 ...

in 1952-53 and 1956-57. He played three times for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

making his first appearance on 4 April 1953 against Cardiff and his last on 3 March 1955 against East Midlands. He played for England in trial matches before making his full debut for

in their defeat to Wales in November 1955. He went on to play another five times for England, his last cap being in a drawn game against Scotland in March 1962. He was educated at St Austin's school,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

Salesian College, Farnborough ) , established = 1901 , type = Independent day school , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Salesian) , head_label = Headmaster , head = Gerard Owens , city = Farnborough , county = Hampshi ...

and Loughborough University with whom he played. On joining

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

, he joined

under which club he made his England appearances. In February 1966 he donated an England shirt to Wakefield RFC He was a representative for a Northampton firm of timber importers.Wakefield Express 5/9/1959

References

* Wakefield Rugby Football Club—1901-2001 A Centenary History. Written and compiled by David Ingall in 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Pj 1931 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Wakefield RFC players Northampton Saints players Barbarian F.C. players Alumni of Loughborough University People educated at Salesian College, Farnborough Yorkshire County RFU players Army rugby union players Rugby union players from Wakefield Rugby union number eights