Roger Wills Hosen (12 June 1933 – 9 April 2005) was an English

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 and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er.

Early life

He was born in Mabe and he first played rugby for Penryn while still at

Falmouth Grammar School Falmouth Grammar School was a grammar school in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom, from 1824 to 1971. History The school was first established in 1824 or 1825, originally as the Classical and Mathematical School. The buildings date from 1868. ...

. He was an all round sportsman, who won ten England international rugby caps during 1963–67, played 54 games for

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and also captained his county cricket team.

Rugby International

In 1955 Roger Hosen moved to

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, to teach at the grammar school, and was recruited to

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. He played 250 games for the Saints, and scored 1,463 points. He was also taught games at

Warwick School Warwick School is a British Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent school (UK), independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school) for boys, in the market town of Warwick, in Warwickshire, England. Known as ...

in the late 1950s and early 60s. In his one full season for England, Hosen established a record of forty-six points from five games. His England debut was made in

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 ...

in 1963. He scored in all but one of his internationals, his highest scoring games being his last two, against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

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 ...

in 1967. His preferred position was full back, but the competition provided by John Willcox and

Don Rutherford Donald Rutherford (22 September 1937 – 12/13 November 2016) was an international rugby union player and administrator. He was the first ever Technical Director of the Rugby Football Union at Twickenham, becoming Director of Rugby where he s ...

confined Hosen to ten caps in 1963–67, of which seven were on the wing. He also played twice for the Barbarian F. C.

Cornwall rugby and cricket

Hosen also played rugby 54 times for Cornwall, as well as also appearing 64 times for

in the

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket competition. He was a right hand bat and right arm pace bowler and he captained the county team from 1963 to 1967 making 1,444 runs, with a highest score of 100 not out. He played one first-class match when selected for the Minor Counties XI against the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n tourists in 1965 at

Jesmond Jesmond ( ) is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, situated north of the city centre and to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher aver ...

where he dismissed the South African skipper Peter van der Merwe lbw for 8 which was his only first-class wicket. He was dismissed by Test left arm spinner

Atholl McKinnon Atholl Henry McKinnon (20 August 1932 in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province – 2 December 1983 in Durban, Natal) was a South African cricketer who played in eight Tests from 1960 to 1966. McKinnon attended Grey High School, a school famous for its s ...

in both of his first-class innings for 0 & 2 respectively.

Retirement

Roger Hosen then became master in charge of rugby at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

in 1966 and subsequently, to cope with timetable clashes, he moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. In the 1980s he retired from teaching and became landlord of the Seven Stars pub in

Stithians Stithians (), also known as St Stythians, is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies in the middle of the triangle bounded by Redruth, Helston and Falmouth. Its population (2001) is 2,004, increasing to 2,10 ...

, still turning out well into his fifties for the local rugby club. He died in

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

on 9 April 2005 aged 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hosen, Roger 1933 births 2005 deaths Barbarian F.C. players Bristol Bears players Cornwall RFU players Cornwall cricketers England international rugby union players English cricketers Loughborough Students RUFC players Minor Counties cricketers Northampton Saints players People educated at Falmouth Grammar School People from Mabe, Cornwall Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union wings Cricketers from Cornwall 20th-century English sportsmen