Samuel Arthur Doble (9 March 1944 – 17 September 1977) was an English

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 it ...

full-back who played international rugby 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 ...

and club rugby for

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

. He was a

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

school teacher by profession. Doble won only three caps for his country, but he was one of the game's most popular characters and his death in 1977 at the age of 33 was mourned throughout English rugby.

Rugby career

Doble first came to public attention when he scored 581 points for

in the 1971/72 domestic season, an achievement that earned him a call up. His debut was an 18–9 victory over

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

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, against a side that were considered to be the unofficial World Champions. England were on the back foot early on when they lost prop Stack Stevens to injury and had to contest seven-man scrums for twenty minutes. However, the visiting side's makeshift front row did not lose one strike against the head and England gradually took control of the game when Stevens returned. With the forwards keeping the Springboks at bay, Doble scored four penalties and converted Alan Morley's second half try from the touchline to help England to a most unlikely victory. Despite his heroics in South Africa, Sam played in just two more matches, a 9–0 loss to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

early in 1973 and a 25–9 loss to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in the following Five Nations campaign. England were outscored by five tries to nil, but Doble signed off his international account with two penalties to augment a drop goal by Dick Cowman.

Death

In 1977, Sam died after being diagnosed with melanoma a few years before. His life was honoured with a special match between the Rugby Writers International XV and Moseley later in the year. Thirty years on, the victorious England side of Ellis Park '72 met up at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

to watch

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lion ...

's England beat South Africa 53–3. Doble was the only player missing from the line-up.

Memorial match

Moseley v International Rugby Writers XV Sunday 27 November 1977 Moseley 19 points International Rugby Writers XV 43 points Moseley 15 C A Meanwell; 14 A Thomas, 13 M K Swain, 12 B J Corless, 11 P Beddoes; 10 M J Cooper, 9 C J Gifford; 1 T F Corless, 2 G N J Cox, 3 W H Greaves, 4 R Field, 5 B Ayre, 6 J C White, 8 N C Jeavons, 7 D G Warren Scorers
Tries: P Beddoes, B J Corless, C A Meanwell
Conversions: M Cooper (2)
Penalties: C A Meanwell International Rugby Writers XV 15 J P R Williams (

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

); 14 P J Squires (

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

), 13 S P Fenwick (Bridgend/Wales), 12 T G R Davies (

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

/Wales), 11 A R Irvine (

Heriot's FP Heriot's Rugby Club, also known as Heriot's FP, is one of Scotland's senior rugby football clubs in the Scottish Rugby Union, whose Men's 1st XV play in the FOSROC . The women play in The club's home is in the Goldenacre area in Edinburgh.Bat ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

); 10 P Bennett (

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

/Wales), 9 G O Edwards (Cardiff/Wales); 1 F E Cotton ( Sale/England), 2 P J Wheeler ( Leicester/England), 3 G Price ( Pontypool/Wales), 4 W B Beaumont ( Fylde/England), 5 A J Martin (

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distr ...

/Wales), 6 T J Cobner (Pontypool/Wales), 8 D L Quinnell (Llanelli/Wales), 7 A Neary ( Broughton Park/England) Replacements Jan Webster (Moseley/England), A Ripley ( Rosslyn Park/England), A G Faulkner (Pontypool/Wales), R W Windsor (Pontypool/Wales), A Old (

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

/England) Scorers
Tries: T G R Davies, T J Cobner, A R Irvine, A Neary, P J Squires (2), P Bennett (2)
Conversions: P Bennett (4)
Penalties: P Bennett (1) Touch Judges: G Bannister, D Jones Referee: N R Samson.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doble, Sam English rugby union players Moseley Rugby Football Club players 1944 births 1977 deaths England international rugby union players