Albert Percival "Percy" Coldrick (born 1 November 1888 – 26 December 1953) was a Welsh dual code rugby player who played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

for

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

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 112 ...

for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, 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 nor ...

. He represented

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

under the union code and Wales and Great Britain under league rules.

Rugby career

Coldrick birth was registered in

Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Rom ...

, Wales, he formed a trade union for rugby players, but when it attempted to organise a strike, it collapsed, his son, also named Percy Coldrick, became the General Secretary of the

Transport Salaried Staffs' Association The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) is a trade union for workers in the transport and travel industries in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its head office is in London, and it has regional offices in Bristol, Derby, Dublin, Manche ...

. and he died aged 64–65 in

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

, England.

Rugby career

Coldrick played for several teams, including a single game for Harlequins and represented Monmouthshire at county level, before being selected by Newport in 1909. Coldrick gained his first international cap in a game against England as part of the

1911 Five Nations Championship The 1911 Five Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the twenty-nin ...

. Under the captaincy of Billy Trew at the Swansea's St Helens Ground, Wales won the game 15–11. Coldrick was re-selected for the next game against Scotland, but failed to appear in the inaugural match in Paris. Coldrick was back for the final game in a Championship decider between Wales and Ireland and when the Welsh team won the match Coldrick became a Grand Slam and

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * T ...

winning international. Coldrick played three games in the 1912 tournament, with his final rugby union international game being a contest against the French team at

Rodney Parade Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales, owned and operated by the Welsh Rugby Union. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's centr ...

. Although Wales beat France, eight of the fifteen Welsh squad never played for Wales again, Coldrick was one of them, though it was his own decision rather than a selection choice. In 1912, Coldrick made himself ineligible for further selection to the Welsh union team when he switched to the professional game of rugby league, joining Wigan RLFC. Coldrick played two international games for the Welsh national league team, both against England, in 1913 and 1914. He also played for the Great Britain team. Coldrick was selected to tour with the England squad on the Ashes tour of Australia and was selected for all three tests, scoring a try in the second game. In 1919 Coldrick approached the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, ove ...

to have his amateur status re-instated, though his application was refused. He left Wigan in 1925, and joined St. Helens. A shared benefit for; Percy Coldrick,

Charlie Seeling Charles Edward "Bronco" Seeling (14 May 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a New Zealand international rugby football player of the early 20th century. He played in the forwards for the original All Blacks, appearing in 11 tests including the famous "'' ...

and Frank Walford

took place in April 1925. Percy Coldrick played in

's 13–2 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

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 1921–22 season at The Cliff, Broughton on Saturday 6 May 1922. Percy Coldrick played left- and scored a try in

's 21–5 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 club ...

in the 1912–13 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1912–13 season at

Weaste Weaste () is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2014, Weaste and Seedley ward had a population of 12,616. History Historically in Lancashire, it is an industrial area, with many industrial estates. The A57 (Ec ...

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 ...

, on Wednesday 11 December 1912. and played right- in the 20–2 victory over

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, Sta ...

in the 1922–23 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1922–23 season at

The Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats. History In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abundan ...

, on Saturday 25 November 1922.

International matches played under union code

WalesSmith (1980), pg 464. * 1911, 1912 * 1912 * 1911 * 1911, 1912

International matches played under league code

Wales * 1913, 1914 Great Britain * 1914, 1914, 1914

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Profile at saints.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coldrick, Percy 1888 births 1953 deaths Crumlin RFC players Dual-code rugby internationals Great Britain national rugby league team players Harlequin F.C. players Monmouthshire County RFC players Newport RFC players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby union players from Caerleon Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Newport, Wales Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby union props St Helens R.F.C. players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Wigan Warriors players