Laird Monterey "Monte" Morris (October 9, 1889 – August 19, 1954) was an American

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 who played at scrum-half for the United States men's national team in its first capped match in 1912.

Biography

Morris was born on October 9, 1889, in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was the son of Henry Bishop Morris and Mary Kathryn Morris (born Baker). Morris attended the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, where in 1910 he earned a place on the varsity rugby team. In 1911, Morris was late to return to the university, but eventually did so and rejoined the rugby team. During the 1912 season, Morris saw his playing time reduced as the coaching staff attempted to develop other players to play his position, although he remained the best player at that position on the university team. At the end of the 1912 season, on November 16, 1912, Morris played for the United States team at scrum-half in its first capped match—a 12–8 loss to Australia. Morris served as the team's captain for this match. In 1913, Morris did not return to the University of California rugby team. Over the course of his collegiate rugby career, Morris was described as "one of the grittiest halves that ever trailed a scrum," and as a member of "one of the most brilliant ack fieldcombinations ever seen on the Coast." As a member of the class of 1913, Morris was a member of the Winged Helmet and Golden Bear honor societies at the University of California.1914 Blue & Gold, pp. 322–323. Morris died on August 19, 1954, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

References

Notes

* 1889 births 1954 deaths United States international rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves California Golden Bears rugby players Rugby union players from California {{US-rugbyunion-bio-stub