Thomas Bertie "Bert" Jenkins (first ¼ 1885 – 4 February 1943) was a Welsh

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 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for

Troedyrhiw Troed-y-rhiw (, ) is a village and community in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the 2011 census was 5,296. It features the Troed-y-rhiw railway station. Governance The community shares a border with the electo ...

RFC and

Mountain Ash RFC Mountain Ash RFC is a Welsh rugby union club from the town of Mountain Ash, in the Cynon Valley, South Wales. Mountain Ash RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Cardiff Blues. Early history The team was founded in ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

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

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and at club level for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, as a .

Background

Bert Jenkins was born in

Troed-y-rhiw Troed-y-rhiw (, ) is a village and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 5,296. It features the Troed-y-rhi ...

, Wales (his birth was registered in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

district), and his death aged 57 was registered in

district, Wales.

Playing career

International honours

Bert Jenkins 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 Wigan in 1908 against New Zealand, and in 1909 against England, and won

s for

(RL) while at Wigan in 1908 against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(3 matches), and

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 ...

(3 matches), in 1909 against Australia (2 matches), on the

1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 191 for this ye ...

against Australia,

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

(2 matches), and New Zealand, in 1911 against Australia, in 1912 against Australia, and in 1914 against Australia, and New Zealand. Jenkins captained the Great Britain team in the first ever test match between The Lions and Australia at the Park Royal Ground in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 12 December 1908. The match ended in a 22-all draw. Although he also played in the last two tests of the three test series, the Great Britain captaincy was taken over by

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

centre Johnny Thomas.

County honours

Bert Jenkins won

(s) for

(RL) while at Wigan.Tom Mather (2010). "Best in the Northern Union". Pages 128–142.

Championship final appearances

Bert Jenkins played at in

's 7–3 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

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 sys ...

Final during the 1908–09 season at

The Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, City of Salford, 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 ...

on Saturday 1 May 1909.

County League appearances

Bert Jenkins played in

's victories in the Lancashire League during the 1908–09 season, 1910–11 season, 1911–12 season, 1912–13 season, 1913–14 season and 1914–15 season.

County Cup Final appearances

Bert Jenkins played in

's 0–0 draw with

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, Staffor ...

in the 1905 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1905–06 season at

Wheater's Field Wheater's Field was a stadium, rugby ground in Broughton, Salford, Broughton, County Borough of Salford, Salford, England. It was home to the Broughton Rangers rugby league club of the Rugby Football League, Northern Union. On 19 October 1907, ...

, Broughton on Saturday 2 December 1905, played , and scored a try, in the 8–0 victory over

in the 1905 Lancashire Cup Final replay during the 1905–06 season at

, Broughton on Monday 11 December 1905, played at in the 10–9 victory over

in the 1908 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1908–09 season at

, Broughton on Saturday 19 December 1908, played at in the 22–5 victory over

in the 1909 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1909–10 season at

, Broughton on Saturday 27 November 1909, and played at in the 21–5 victory over

in the

1912 Lancashire Cup Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 191 for this ye ...

Final during the 1912–13 season at

Weaste Weaste () is an inner-city suburb of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is bordered by the town of Eccles, Greater Manchester, Eccles to the West and Seedley to the East. In 2014 Weaste and Seedley (ward), Weaste and Seedley ward had a pop ...

(

?) on Wednesday 11 December 1912.

Notable tour matches

Bert Jenkins played at and scored a try in

's 12–8 victory over

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, on Saturday 9 November 1907, played at , and scored a try in the 10–7 victory over

, on Saturday 9 January 1909, played at , and scored a try in the 16–8 victory over

, on Wednesday 20 January 1909, and played at in the 7–2 victory over

, on Saturday 28 October 1911.

Testimonial match

Testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

was shared by; Bert Jenkins, Dick Ramsdale and Johnny Thomas.

Club career

Bert Jenkins made his début for Troedyrhiw RFC aged sixteen, he transferred to Mountain Ash at the start of the 1904/05 season, he changed

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

codes from

, and transferred to Wigan during December 1904, he made his début for

in the 10–7 victory over

Runcorn RFC Runcorn FC was a rugby league club. Having formed in 1876 and played rugby union as members of the RFU, they joined the Northern Union in 1895, just several days after it was founded, and played in the league from 1895–96 to 1917–18. The ...

on Saturday 10 December 1904, he scored his first try for Wigan in the 20–2 victory over

on Saturday 15 April 1905, he scored his last try for Wigan in the 11–3 victory over

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

on Wednesday 17 March 1920, and he played his last for match for Wigan in the 2–10 defeat by

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 ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

on Saturday 11 September 1920. During Bert Jenkins' time at Wigan, they also won the South West Lancashire League in

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

and 1905–06. Bert Jenkins is one of less than twenty Welshmen to have scored more than 200-tries in their rugby league career.Robert Gate (1988). "Gone North – Volume 2". R. E. Gate.

References

Bibliography

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Bert 1885 births 1943 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Footballers who switched code Great Britain national rugby league team captains Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Mountain Ash RFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Merthyr Tydfil Rugby union players from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Wigan Warriors players