Iorwerth Isaac (12 October 1911 – 25 April 1966) commonly known as Iorrie Isaac, was a Welsh 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 professional

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 who played in the 1930s. He played representative rugby union (RU) 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 ...

, and at club level for

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

and

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 ...

, as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

, and representative rugby league (RL) for

, and at club level for

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, as a or .

Rugby career

Isaac was first selected for Wales in their opening game of the

1933 Home Nations Championship The 1933 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-ninth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Five Nations, and prior to that, the Home Nations, this was the forty-sixth series of the nor ...

. The match was against England at their national stadium,

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. Wales had failed to win at the ground in their first nine attempts, and the Welsh failure at the ground was known as the 'Twickenham bogey'. Isaac was placed at open-side flanker, opposite the veteran Tom Arthur who was positioned on the blind side.Smith (1980), pg 274. Isaac, along with Turnbull, and Arthur, continually spoiled the English scrum.Smith (1980), pg 276. When Isaac caused the English half-backs to loose the loose maul,

Watcyn Thomas Watcyn Thomas (16 January 1906 – 10 August 1977) was a Welsh rugby union player who captained Wales in the early 1930s. Thomas was born in Llanelli and educated at Llanelli County School and at University College, Swansea. While still at schoo ...

heeled the ball back for Wooller, and then Davey to feed

Ronnie Boon Ronald Winston Boon (11 June 1909 – 3 August 1998) was an international rugby union wing for Wales national rugby union team, Wales who played club rugby for Cardiff RFC, Cardiff. Boon possessed a tremendous self-confidence in his own ability ...

who scored a Welsh try.Smith (1980), pg 277. The game ended 7–3, with all the Welsh points scored by Boon, who had also placed a drop goal. Isaacs played just one more international game in the very next match of the Home Nations Championship against Scotland at St. Helens, his international career identical to that of

Raymond Bark-Jones Raymond Bark-Jones (29 August 1911 – 2 February 1995) was an English rugby union lock who played international rugby for Wales. He played his club rugby for Waterloo R.F.C. and Cambridge University. Rugby career Bark-Jones was educated at U ...

. At the start of the 1933/34 season Isaac left rugby union behind when he 'Went North' switching to the professional rugby league game, joining Leeds RLFC.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 467. * 1933 * 1933

International Rugby League honours

Isaac won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

(RL) while at Leeds in 1933 against Australia, and 1935 against France.

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Pontypridd RFC player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaac, Iorrie 1911 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Cardiff RFC players Cilfynydd RFC players Dual-code rugby internationals Glamorgan Police RFC players Glamorgan Police officers Leeds Rhinos players Penarth RFC players Pontypridd RFC players Rugby league players from Rhondda Cynon Taf Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Cilfynydd Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh police officers Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Welsh schoolteachers