Thomas Scourfield (26 February 1909 – 14 February 1976) was a Welsh dual code

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

international full back who played club rugby for

Ynysybwl Ynysybwl ( ) is a village in Cwm Clydach in Wales. It is situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, roughly north-north-west of Cardiff, north of Pontypridd and south of Merthyr Tydfil, and forms part of the community (Wales), commun ...

and Torquay as an amateur

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 played 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 ...

with

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 ...

. He won a single international cap with both the league and union Wales teams.

Rugby union career

Scourfield was born in

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

in 1909 before moving to

. In 1930 Scourfield was selected for his one and only appearance for Wales in a game against France as part of the 1930 Five Nations Championship. Under the captaincy of Guy Morgan, Scourfield made the trip to Paris to play the French at Stade Colombes. The game was an extremely bad-tempered affair from a French team well known throughout the 1930s for their rough play. The game took a turn for the worse when Scourfield collected a loose ball from the back and kicked it into touch. One of the French players who was chasing the ball, ignored the fact that the ball was cleared, continued his race towards Scourfield and punched him in the head. Later on

Bert Day Hubert Charles Day (8 May 1908 – 27 June 1977) was a rugby football, rugby hooker who played rugby union for Newport RFC, Newport and rugby league for Salford Red Devils, Salford. He was awarded five caps for Wales national rugby union team, ...

, the Welsh hooker, was kicked in the face requiring nine stitches. When Welsh forward Tom Arthur retaliated on the wrong French player, the game fell into running fist fights, with the referee having to halt the game on several occasions. Wales won the game 11–0, but Scourfield did not represent Wales at rugby union again.

International matches played

Wales (union)Smith (1980), pg 471. * 1930

Rugby league career

In 1932 Scourfield turned his back on the amateur rugby union game by turning professional with Huddersfield. His first appearance for the club was against Bradford Northern on 26 November 1932, and in 1933 he won a Cup Final winners medal against Warrington, in front of a record crowd of nearly 42,000 people. Tommy Scourfield played in

's 8–11 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in the

1934–35 Challenge Cup The 1934–35 Challenge Cup was the 35th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Castleford beat Huddersfield Giants, Huddersfield 11–8 in the fi ...

Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, London on Saturday 4 May 1935, in front of a crowd of 39,000. He won his only international cap for the Wales league team in 1935 in an encounter with England at Liverpool.

Bibliography

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scourfield, Thomas 1909 births 1976 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Dual-code rugby internationals Huddersfield Giants players London Welsh RFC players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby union fullbacks Rugby league players from Pontypridd Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union players from Pontypridd