Herbert Toft (1909–1987), known as H. B. Toft, Henry Toft, or Bert Toft, was a rugby union international who represented

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 ...

from 1936 to 1939.Herbert Toft Profile on scrum.com
/ref> He also captained his country.

Early life

Hebert Toft was born on 2 October 1909 in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

. He attended

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

and then

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, returning to his school to become a teacher and later headmaster. Born Herbert Toft, he was known by a number of variations on this. Although named Herbert, by the time he was at university he was known as Henry. One explanation of why he then became known as H B Toft was that when it became apparent that of the founders of the Manchester XXI Club he was the only one with one forename, they rechristened him Henry "Bloody" Toft.University of Manchester XXI Club – Club History: The First 25 Years – written by Allister Cranna (Cross Country 1944)
/ref> However, he had also been known as Bert due to a foreshortening of his birth name. This was combined with his nickname Henry such that he became known as Henry Bert Toft, and thence H B Toft. So ubiquitous was the use of Henry Bert Toft as his name that some commentators on the sport cite Henry Bert as his forenames.Steve Lewis, ''One Among Equals'', pages 278, 2008 (Vertical Editions:London)

Rugby union career

Toft played for Sale Rugby Club and made his international debut on 21 March 1936 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 boro ...

in the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

match. Of the 10 matches he played for his national side he was on the winning side on 7 occasions. He played his final match for England on 18 March 1939 at Murrayfield in the

match. His rugby career was interrupted by World War II when he left to serve in the Royal Air Force.

References

RAF V Paris at Parc Des Princes 11 November 1944

The RAF team who played in the last wartime fixture at Swansea with South Wales whom they beat 22–3 on 7 October 1944. {{DEFAULTSORT:Toft, Herbert 1909 births 1987 deaths England international rugby union players English rugby union players Royal Air Force rugby union players Rugby union hookers Waterloo R.F.C. players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Lancashire County RFU players Rugby union players from Salford