Anthony Thomas Voyce (18 May 1897 – 22 January 1980) was an English rugby union player who played in the flanker position. Voyce played club rugby with

Gloucester RFC Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

, was capped 29 times 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 was a member of the British Isles team that toured in 1924.

Early life

Voyce was born in Gloucester on 18 May 1897, to Thomas and Annie Voyce. Voyce was a student at the National School, Gloucester where he took up the game of rugby. Appearances for Gloucester schoolboys resulted in interest from the England national team, with Voyce playing in a trial game in February 1911, leading to an appearance for the England Under-15 team against Wales in March 1911.

Playing career

His senior Gloucester debut came in December 1919, and was followed in short succession by his first appearance for the

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 ...

county team in January 1920 and his first

cap in February 1920 against Ireland in the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. He played in every game during the England's three Grand Slam victories in the Five Nations Championship in 1921, 1923 and 1924. A sole appearance for the Barbarians invitational team came on 19 April 1924 against Cardiff. Voyce was announced as a member of the British Isles team to tour South Africa, and played in 12 games during the tour, including two of the four test matches against

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 ...

. Initially overlooked as a test player, Voyce played his way into the side and took over kicking duties, ending as the tour's top points scorer with 37 points. His versatility saw appearances as a wing and full-back to cover injuries, as well as his usual position in the back row. Voyce was made Gloucester's club captain ahead of the 1924–25 season, a role he held for three seasons. His final appearance as a player for Gloucester was in November 1927.

Post-playing rugby career

Following his retirement from playing, he held a number of administrative roles, including as President of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

from 1960 to 1961. He was President of Gloucester RFC between 1970 and 1978. In the 1962 New Year Honours, Voyce was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) "for services to sport and for public services in Gloucestershire".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voyce, Tom 1897 births 1980 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Gloucester Rugby players Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Gloucester Rugby union flankers Officers of the Order of the British Empire