John Mantle (13 March 1942 – 18 November 2018)John Mantle: Dual code rugby international dies aged 76
/ref> was a Welsh dual-code international

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player. He was capped for

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

Personal

Education

He attended Bedwellty Grammar School, and later

Loughborough College Loughborough College is a general further education college located in Leicestershire, England which offers a range of courses including further education, higher education, apprenticeships and professional qualifications. List of princip ...

Rugby Union career

Mantle began his rugby career at a young age, playing for the Wales School team. As an adult he played with

Bargoed Bargoed ( cy, Bargod) is a town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Wales, one of the South Wales Valleys. It lies on the Rhymney River in the county borough of Caerphilly. It straddles the ancient boundary of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, wit ...

before switching to first class team Newport.

International

While representing Newport, Mantle was selected for his two Welsh rugby union caps. His first was when he was selected as part of the touring Wales team to Africa. Mantle played in the early games of the tour, including wins over East Africa in

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 h ...

, and Boland at Wellington. His first international was against South Africa in Durban in 1964, but Wales were outclassed and lost 24-3 in a one-sided match. Mantle played in the later games on the tour, including matches against Northern Transvaal and Orange Free State. On his return he played one final game in a draw with England, at the

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 ...

as part of the

1964 Five Nations Championship The 1964 Five Nations Championship was the thirty-fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the seventieth series of the northern hemisphere rugby ...

. Wales rugby unionSmith (1980), pg 469. * 1964 * 1964

Rugby League career

Mantle may have won more caps for Wales, but 'Went North', switching to the professional rugby league code when he joined St. Helens ( Heritage № 824) in 1964. He would later play for the Great Britain rugby league team. John Mantle played left-, i.e. number 8, in St. Helens' 2-25 defeat by the

1975 NSWRFL season The 1975 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 68th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydne ...

premiers,

Eastern Suburbs Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen ...

in the unofficial

1976 World Club Challenge The 1976 World Club Challenge was an unofficial trial of what would later become the World Club Challenge concept, with the 1975 NSWRFL season's premiers, Eastern Suburbs hosting the 1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season's Premiersh ...

at Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday 29 June 1976. After leaving St Helens, he went on to play for

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 ...

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

( Heritage № 870), Barrow,

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...

Oldham RLFC Oldham R.L.F.C., also known as the Roughyeds, is a professional rugby league football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club currently competes in the RFL League 1, the third tier of British Rugby League. Formed in 1876 as Oldh ...

( Heritage № 858) and finished his playing career at Blackpool Borough.

International games played

In rugby league Mantle was capped 13 times by

between 1966 and 1973, and won eight caps for

in 1975. He scored one try for Wales, giving him an overall total of 21 international rugby league appearances and three points.

Championship final appearances

John Mantle played in St. Helens' 35-12 victory over Halifax in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1965–66 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 30,165.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

John Mantle played and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in St. Helens' 21-2 victory over

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

in the 1966 Challenge Cup Final during the 1965–66 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on Saturday 21 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 98,536, and played left-, i.e. number 11, in the 16-13 victory over

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

in the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

Challenge Cup Final during the 1971–72 season at

on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495.

County Cup Final appearances

John Mantle played right-, i.e. number 12, in St. Helens' 2-2 draw with

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1967–68 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 7 October 1967 (replaced by

Kel Coslett Thomas Kelvin Coslett (born 14 January 1942) is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached rugby league in the 1970s and 1980s. He played represent ...

in the replay), and played left-, i.e. number 11, in the 4-7 defeat by

in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

Final during the 1970–71 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 28 November 1970.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances

John Mantle played right-, i.e. number 12, in St. Helens' 0-4 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

in the 1965 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1965–66 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hoste ...

, St. Helens on Tuesday 14 December 1965, played left-, i.e. number 11, in St. Helens' 4-7 defeat by

in the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1968-69 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

on Tuesday 17 December 1968. played right- in the 5-9 defeat by

in the

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1970-71 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Rugby Stadium,

on Tuesday 15 December 1970, played right- in the 8-2 victory over

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

in the 1971 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1971-72 season at

Rugby Stadium,

on Tuesday 14 December 1971, and played left-, i.e. number 8, in the 22-2 victory over Dewsbury in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1975-76 season at

, St. Helens on Tuesday 16 December 1975.

Coaching

He was head coach of

and later the

Cardiff City Blue Dragons Cardiff City Blue Dragons were a rugby league team formed in 1981. Their home ground was Ninian Park, which was also used by Cardiff City F.C.. The club spent three seasons in Cardiff before relocating to Bridgend in 1984 as the Bridgend Blu ...

. He coached

for one fixture, along with Bill Francis, v

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 ...

on 28 May 1978; England won 60-13.

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)Profile at saints.org.ukWelsh convert XIII
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mantle, John 1942 births 2018 deaths Alumni of Loughborough University Bargoed RFC players Barrow Raiders players Blackpool Borough players Cardiff City Blue Dragons coaches Dual-code rugby internationals Great Britain national rugby league team players Keighley Cougars players Leigh Leopards captains Leigh Leopards coaches Leigh Leopards players Loughborough Students RUFC players Newport RFC players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby league utility players Rugby league wingers Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Cardiff Salford Red Devils players St Helens R.F.C. players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team captains Wales national rugby league team coaches Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players