Hal Sever (c. 1910 – June ) was an English rugby international playing ten matches. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, which is normally regarded as a footballing school. He made his debut in 1936 as a member of the first English team to defeat 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 ...

and played an integral role in the English team in 1937 that won the Triple Crown. He played his last international game against Scotland in 1938. He played club rugby for Sale and represented

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

as well as playing 8 matches for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

Career

Sever was part of an international three-quarter line for Sale playing with Claude Davey and

Wilf Wooller Wilfred Wooller (20 November 1912 – 10 March 1997) was a Welsh sportsman (playing cricket, rugby union, and football), cricket administrator, and journalist. He was acclaimed as one of the greatest all-round sportsmen that Wales has ever prod ...

of Wales and Ken Fyfe of Scotland. He made his international debut against the All Blacks in the famous "Obolensky" match when Prince Obolensky scored two tries. Sever scored the other try in a 13–0 win which was England's first against New Zealand. Sever's most memorable performance was in the Triple Crown series in 1937. He scored vital points in each match starting with a drop goal against Wales in a 4–3 victory at

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 ...

. Sever scored a matchwinning try in the next match against Ireland on 13 February 1937 in which he beat several defenders in scoring wide out. The final score was 9–8. In the final match of the series at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

, Sever scored the second try in a 6–3 victory over Scotland. His final international match was against Scotland in 1938 at Twickenham which was the first rugby match to be televised on the BBC. According to the ''Guinness Book of Sporting Blunders'', Sever "dramatically ran into the opposition goalpost, losing not only the ball but his teeth as well". Sever disputed this version of events in the ''Daily Telegraph'' in its edition of 26 February 1999 saying "The suggestion that I collided with the posts is absolute nonsense ... I very nearly reached the tryline, was upheld by the opposing pack and was unable to ground the ball." Scotland won the match 21–16.

References

''Sporting Life'' article on Sever's death in June 2005

Scrum article on Sever's death in 2005

A brief history of the Sale SharksRugby365 article on historic matchwinning tries
- Sever's son Professor Peter Sever worked at Imperial College {{DEFAULTSORT:Sever, Hal 1910s births 2005 deaths English rugby union players Sale Sharks players England international rugby union players 20th-century English sportsmen