Dual-code rugby internationals

A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has represented a country (or more rarely, two countries) at the international level in both rugby union and rugby league.

Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby union in Northern England (1895) and in New Zealand and Australia in 1908 and consequently a number of the top-class rugby league pioneers had been star players in the rugby union code. Not surprisingly, a high proportion of Australia and New Zealand's dual-code rugby internationals played in rugby league's formative years in those countries.

From 1910 through to 1995, dual-code internationals were infrequent and without exception the player had first appeared as a union international before shifting to league. In 1995 rugby union itself turned professional and the tide of switches began to reverse. Since then generally all cross-code representatives have debuted internationally in league before being lured to union where a truly international competitive arena and freedom from rugby league's salary cap constraints (at least in Australia) have offered an attractive career alternative.

Backs have more often been dually successful at the highest level than forwards - approximately 65% of the players here listed are backs. Although pre-1995 there were many notable forwards who made the union to league switch. Since 1995 nearly 90% of the league to union converts who went on to play internationally have been backs.

Australia's dual-code internationals

France's dual-code internationals

All Golds

The 1907 Professional All Blacks (derisively referred to by the NZ press as the All Golds) left New Zealand in August 1907 for their ground-breaking tour of Britain via Sydney. The squad contained at least seven former All Blacks in George Smith, Thomas Wlliam Cross, William Mackrell, Herbert Turtill, Duncan McGregor, Eric Watkins and Edgar Wrigley. These men became New Zealand's first dual-code internationals at the point they first played on the ten month tour.

The three matches in Sydney between 17 and 24 August against professional New South Wales rugby rebels were played under rugby union rules so do not qualify as international rugby league appearances. But full internationals under "Northern Union" (rugby league) rules were played against Wales in Aberdare on 1 Jan 1908 and three Tests against England in Leeds on 25 January 1907, Chelsea on 8 February 1907 and Cheltenham on 15 February 1908. Three Tests were played in Australia on the homeward leg before the All Golds arrived home in June 1908 having played 48 games (tour matches and Tests) as internationals.

amoa's dual-code internationals

Wales' dual-code internationals

Dual country dual-code internationals

Henry Paul

Paul was born in New Zealand. His senior club rugby league career was played in England but between 1995 and 2001 he regularly returned to New Zealand to make international appearances for the Kiwis. When he switched to union in 2002 he became eligible to represent England by ancestry of his grandfather and he did so in 2002.

Brad Thorn

Thorn was born in Mosgiel, New Zealand. From age eight he played rugby league in Queensland and at twenty-two he represented for Australia (Super League) during the Super League split year. When the code re-united in 1998 he also represented in the Australia national (ARL) side.

In 2001 he moved to New Zealand and switched to rugby union. He appeared in twelve Tests for the All Blacks from 2003. For 2005-06 he returned to the National Rugby League in Australia, winning a premiership with the Brisbane Broncos and representing at state level. In 2008 he switched to rugby union for the second time and was again selected for the All Blacks. He is thus a dual-code and dual-country international who has made the code switch twice and has represented internationally at rugby union in two different stanzas of his career.

Michael Horak

Horak was born in South Africa and represented for the South Africa national rugby league team. He switched to rugby union in 1998 moving to England to play with the Leicester Tigers. He qualifies to represent England via his English mother and did so in 2002.

Lesley Vainikolo

Vainikolo was born in Tonga but raised in New Zealand playing rugby league at school. His league club career was played with the Canberra Raiders in Australia and the Bradford Bulls in England. During that period he made twelve national representative appearances for Kiwis.

He took up union with Gloucester Rugby in 2007. He was eligible to play for Tonga by birth, New Zealand by parentage or England by residence. He had previously declined to play for Tonga in the 2007 Rugby World Cup so that he could play for his adopted nation. He made his international rugby union debut for England v Wales in February 2008 and played in five tests that season.

Two countries in one code

Dally Messenger

One week after his final Test appearance as a Wallaby, Messenger, who was born in Australia, toured Great Britain at the invitation of the All Golds in 1907 . His international rugby league debut was made on that tour representing New Zealand. His Australian international Test debut was made in Brisbane in Australia's inaugural rugby league Test v the Kiwis on 9 May 1908. He made six further international rugby league appearances for Australia.

Bill Hardcastle

A New Zealander and an 1897 All Black, Hardcastle journeyed to Sydney in 1899 on hearing that the visiting British Rugby Union team would be not be travelling to New Zealand. Australian rugby in those days had no residential rules and once he joined Sydney's Glebe RU club he qualified for Australian national selection. He was chosen for the Wallabies in the fourth test of 1899 against Great Britain.

In rugby league he made two Test appearances for Australia and six minor appearances on the 1908 Kangaroo tour.

Lote Tuqiri

Born in Fiji, Tuqiri had been a junior Kangaroo at age 19 in 1998. When he missed selection for Australia's 2000 Rugby League World Cup squad he opted to play for Fiji and captained the side in their three pool match appearances. He later played four rugby league Tests for Australia in 2001 before his 2003 switch to union and a long international representative career in that code.

First dual-code rugby international

The inaugural rugby league international of 5 April 1904 between England and Other Nationalities saw no former union internationals take the field. [ England: W.B. Little (Halifax), full back; F. Spottiswoode (Oldham), G. Dickenson (Warrington), J. Lomas (Salford), J. Fish (Warrington), threequarters; J. Baxter (Rochdale Hornets), J. Morely (Halifax), half backs; A. Starks [c] (Hull K.R.), P. Tunney (Salford), J. Riley (Halifax), J.W. Bulmer (Halifax), J. Ferguson (Oldham), forwards.

Other Nationalities: D. Smith (Salford), full back; D. Thomas (Salford), T.D. Llewellyn (Leeds), D. Harris (Wigan), D.J. Lewis (Oldham), threequarters; E. Davies (Wigan), P.J. Brady (Huddersfield), half backs; J. Rhapps (Salford), J.G. Moffatt (Leeds), G. Frater [c] (Oldham), D. Thomas (Oldham), H. Buckler (Salford), forwards] It is not known whether the repeat encounters of Jan 1905 and Jan 1906 resulted in any cross-code debuts.

The first tour matches played by the NZ All Golds in Britain in Nov & Dec 1907 would have seen international cross-code debuts by some of the seven touring former All Blacks. At this stage of the tour the New Zealanders were still familiarising themselves with the new Northern Union rules which they had not seen until they arrived in Leeds in October. [ http://www.newzealandatoz.com/index.php?pageid=826&All+Golds+Rugby+League+Team&PHPSESSID=864 All Golds Tour on New Zealand AtoZ.com ] .

The first full international of the tour against Wales on New Year's day 1908 saw confirmed appearances by William Mackrell [http://stats.allblacks.com/Profile.asp?ABID=521 Mackrell played in All Gold's 1st Test] for NZ and David Jones [cite web | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/01/03/srabou403.xml | title=A real pro - 100 years ago
publisher=The telegraph | author=Brendan Gallagher | date=2008-01-02 | accessdate=2008-08-08] for Wales. A number of the other former All Blacks may also have appeared but only these two players can be substantiated in that match as the first full international dual-code rugby representatives.

Other firsts and lasts

* First man to debut in rugby league before debuting in union - Barrie-Jon Mather April 1999.
* Last man to debut in rugby union before debuting in rugby league - Marc Ellis May 1996.
* Most recent dual rugby code international - Timana Tahu June 2008.
* Most dual code internationals to debut in the same game - in Wales' first pool game of the 1995 Rugby League World Cup at Ninian Park, Cardiff on 9 Oct 1995, eight Welsh former rugby union international made their cross-code international debuts.

Triple Internationals

Michael Cleary represented for Australia in track & field at the Commonwealth Games making him an international at the senior level in three sports. Dick Thornett achieved the same distinction having also represented for Australia in water polo at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Disputed dual internationals

Robert Graves

Robert Graves is erroneously excluded from some published sources listing Australian dual-code internationals (including a number of editions of David Middletons' Australian Rugby League Yearbook). This is most likely because his single Wallaby appearance was made as a reserve.

Len Smith

Len Smith's Kangaroo status is undoubted despite the infamy of his 1948 tour selection controversy. Both his national league representative appearances were made as captain. What is doubtful is whether he ever made a representative Wallaby appearance.

Smith was selected as a Wallaby for the ill-fated 1939 tour of Great Britain. Docking at Southampton the day before World War II was declared the side left England without playing a game. The Whiticker reference records that "the squad played at exhibition match in Bombay on the journey home so that the players could be afforded international status". [ Whiticker, "Captaining the Kangaroos" p129. ] However RL historian Sean Fagan casts doubt on this, citing his 1998 interview with Smith where Smith said the game was played between one-half of the touring squad against the other with the numbers made up by military personnel on hand in Bombay. This is supported by the Pollard reference which records that the Wallabies played against a "Gymkhana XV made up of military men and others".

ee also

*Comparison of rugby league and rugby union
*Players who have converted from one football code to another

Footnotes

References

* Whiticker, Alan (2004) "Captaining the Kangaroos", New Holland, Sydney
* Whiticker, Alan & Hudson, Glen (2006) "The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players", Gavin Allen Publishing, Sydney
* Andrews, Malcolm (2006) "The ABC of Rugby League" Austn Broadcasting Corpn, Sydney
* Pollard, Jack (1984) "Australian Rugby Union: The Game and the Players" Angus and Robertson Publishing
* Fagan, Sean (2000-2006) http://www.rl1908.com