David Joseph Bishop (born 31 October 1960) is a Welsh former dual-code international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and then

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer.

Rugby union career

Bishop started his career as a youth player at Cardiff, however left the club due to disciplinary issues. From here he went Ebbw Vale, where as a scrum-half, he played for a season, He made his first-class début for Ebbw Vale where he was outstanding. After a season, he then joined

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

in 1981, but not long after broke his neck. Despite being told he would never play again, he was back playing for Pontypool within a year. He only gained one cap for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

– against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

during the 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland which Wales lost 28–9. Despite the loss Bishop was the only player to score a try against them. Bishop had played understudy to fellow scrum-half

Terry Holmes Terence David Holmes (born 10 March 1957) is a Welsh former rugby union and rugby league player who won 25 caps for as a scrum-half, and later played rugby league for Bradford Northern. Holmes was a highly physical player and being taller ...

, and when Holmes switched codes to rugby league in 1985, many expected Bishop to finally be given his chance to play for Wales permanently. However, during a match versus Newbridge, Chris Jarman received a broken jaw in an off-the ball incident. Jarman brought a private prosecution resulting in Bishop being given a suspended jail sentence and an eleven-month ban by the WRU.David Bishop ban
The Welsh selectors instead picked Robert Jones of Swansea RFC. Bishop however gained his revenge in 1987-88 when Pontypool defeated Swansea at Pontypool Park in the cup, the highlight of the game being Bishop's penalty in the mud to seal the win, following which Bishop wiggled his rear end to the stand—where the Welsh selectors were sitting. Despite repeatedly putting in outstanding performances for Pontypool, Bishop was never picked for Wales again, though his case was not helped by several of Bishop's antics off the field. The 1987–1988 season was the most successful in the club's history when they lost only two games all season and Bishop formed a potent partnership with

Mark Ring Mark Gerarde Ring (born 15 October 1962) played rugby union for Cardiff RFC, Cardiff, Pontypool RFC, Pontypool and Wales national rugby union team, Wales between 1982 and 1996. He was regarded as among the most gifted players of his generation ...

. When rugby union became openly professional in 1995, Bishop returned to Pontypool as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. Although Pontypool had been relegated from the top flight of rugby in Wales in 1995. Two highlights during this period were saving Pontypool from relegation from Division 1 with a victory over UWIC and the 16–15 win over Neath RFC in the Welsh Cup in 1999. Pontypool then played

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

in the next round of the cup, where they were heavily defeated, but Bishop faced his old adversary Robert Jones for the last time.

Rugby league career

In 1988, Bishop was lured to rugby league and he signed for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

. He subsequently played for London Crusaders. He was then part of the

rugby league team that won a European Nations Cup and reached the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup (also known as Halifax Centenary World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh World Cup for mens national rugby league teams. It was held between 7–28 October and hosted by England and Wales and was wo ...

's semi-finals.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, David 1960 births Living people 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Dual-code rugby internationals Ebbw Vale RFC players Great Britain national rugby league team players Hull Kingston Rovers players London Broncos players Players of British baseball Pontypool RFC coaches Pontypool RFC players Rugby articles needing expert attention Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby union players from Cardiff Rugby union scrum-halves Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Welsh rugby league coaches