Cecil Bruce "CB" Jennings (16 August 1914 – 2 October 1989) was a South African

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 ...

player.

Biography

Jennings was educated at

Dale College Dale College Boys' High School, (commonly referred to as Dale College), is a well-established public English medium high school for boys located in Qonce, a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. With a rich history, it holds the d ...

King Williams Town Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. It has a population of around 35,000 inhab ...

and as a schoolboy already played provincial rugby for in 1934. He played four provincial games in the

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, a season in which Border shared the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

with . He later became the captain of Border and shortly before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he moved to the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

where he worked on mines and was selected to play for the . In 1937 Jennings toured with the Springboks to Australia and New Zealand. He played his only test match for during the New Zealand leg of the tour, in the first test against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

on 14 August 1937 in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. He also played ten tour matches and scored three tries. During the War he served in the

Rand Light Infantry The Rand Light Infantry (RLI) is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve unit or United States Army National Guard unit. History Origin The history ...

in North Africa. He was a captain in the infantry and during a skirmish was wounded in both legs, causing him to spend months in hospital. After the war he returned to Johannesburg and coached the rugby team of the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

. in the mid-1950s he returned to King Williams Town and became involved in the activities of Dale College and served on the school board for several years. He also became a selector and coach of Border and also served five terms as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of King Williams Town. The rugby field at Dale College was named the CB Jennings rugby field in his honour.

Test history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, CB 1914 births 1989 deaths South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Border Bulldogs players Golden Lions players Rugby union players from the Eastern Cape Rugby union props Alumni of Dale College Boys' High School South African Army officers South African military personnel of World War II Mayors of places in South Africa

Biography

Test history

See also

References