Glyn Prosser (27 November 1907 – 13 November 1972) was a Welsh 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 ...

flanker who played club rugby for

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

, and was capped four times 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 ...

. An aggressive wing forward, Prosser is best known for being a member of the Wales team that beat the touring

New Zealanders New Zealanders are people associated with New Zealand, sharing a common History of New Zealand, history, Culture of New Zealand, culture, and language (New Zealand English). People of various ethnicities and national origins are citizens of Ne ...

in 1935.

Personal

He was the older brother of

Dai Prosser David "Dai" Rees Prosser (13 October 1912 – 6 May 1973) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s, and coached rugby league in the 1960s. He played representat ...

. He was educated at Crown School, Glynneath. His occupation had been a miner.

Rugby Union career

Prosser first played rugby for his home town,

Glynneath Glynneath ( ; also spelt ''Glyn-neath'' and ''Glyn Neath'') is a town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in the historic county of Glamorgan. Glynneath ward ...

, before moving to first class side Neath. It was with Neath that Prosser first played against international opposition, when he was chosen for a joint Neath /

Aberavon Aberavon () is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Por ...

team to face the touring South Africans in 1931. It was a very close game that was 3-3, when in a final attack, the South Africans scored the winning try. Prosser trialled for the Wales team as early as the 1931/32 seasonBillot (1974), pg 166. but did not gain his first cap until the

1934 Home Nations Championship The 1934 Home Nations Championship was the thirtieth 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-seventh series of the nort ...

, when he was selected to face England. The match was played at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

under the captaincy of first time international John Evans, and the inexperienced Welsh team were poor in comparison to England. Out of 13 new caps on the day, five, including Evans, never played for Wales again, but Prosser returned in the next two games of the tournament, now led by the more reliable

Claude Davey Claude Davey (14 December 1908 – 18 February 2001) was a Wales international rugby union player who played club rugby for several teams, most notably Sale and Swansea. He was awarded 23 caps for Wales and captained his country eight times. Dave ...

. Although Wales won these two games, Prosser was not reselected for the next years Championship. In 1935, Prosser was given another chance to face international tourist when Neath joined up with Aberavon again to face the touring All Blacks. Although the joint team lost to

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 ...

Prosser brought his familiar style of offensive forward play through the All Black back division,Billot (1972), pg 103. and did enough to gain the favour of the Welsh selectors. Prosser played his final game for Wales one week later when he was chosen to face the same touring New Zealanders. It was a famous win for Wales, even though they lost their hooker with a broken neck ten minutes before the end of the game.

Rugby League career

In 1936, Prosser severed his ties with rugby union by signing for 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 ...

club

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 470. * 1934 * 1934 * 1934 * 1935

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prosser, Glyn 1907 births 1972 deaths Glynneath RFC players Huddersfield Giants players Neath RFC players Rugby league players from Neath Port Talbot Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Glynneath Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players