Jack Ellis (rugby union)

Jack Ellis

Birth name	Jack Ellis
Date of birth	23 October 1912
Place of birth	Rothwell, West Yorkshire, England
Date of death	27 November 2007(2007-11-27) (aged 95)
Place of death	Northampton, England
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) Wakefield RFC. Yorkshire Barbarian F.C. () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1939 England 1 (0)

Jack Ellis (23 October 1912 – 27 November 2007) was an England international rugby union player. At the time of his death it was reported that he was the oldest living England international rugby player, although it was later discovered this was incorrect.

Rugby career

He played in only one official England game a 9–6 win against Scotland during the 1938/39 season. Official international games were not played during the Second World War but he played in 10 Red Cross Service Internationals including a joint England/Wales team that beat a joint Scotland/Ireland team 17–3 in December 1939.

He also played five times for the Barbarians and Yorkshire.

At club level he played for Wakefield RFC making his debut during the 1931/32 season, playing 106 games and scoring 37 tries.

Career

He qualified in Classics at Durham in 1936, also acquiring a Diploma in Physical Education at Carnegie College.

He was a school teacher and he taught classics, Latin and Greek at Fettes in Edinburgh, Rossall in Lancashire and Scarborough High School for Boys .

He was a major in the Royal Army Service Corps during the Second World War, being amongst the British troops who liberated Belsen in 1945.

References

• Wakefield Rugby Football Club—1901–2001 A Centenary History. Written and compiled by David Ingall in 2001.
• Observer newspaper 17 December 1939 Page 16

External links

• RFU
• BBC obituary