Warden Selby Prentice (30 July 1886 – 26 February 1969) was an Australian sportsman who captained Australia at

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

and also played first-grade

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

for the

Western Suburbs Magpies The Western Suburbs Magpies (legal name: Western Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club Ltd) are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly r ...

Rugby union career

Ward Prentice and four of his brothers played first grade

in Sydney at various times and two others played in the lower grades. Ward and two of his brothers later played first grade

. Ward's club career started with his local Western Suburbs RUFC and he made his representative debut in 1908 for

against a touring Anglo-Welsh side. In 1908 he was selected in the 31-man squad for the 1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles and France.

Chris McKivat Christopher Hobart McKivat (alternatively spelled McKivatt, pronounced ; 27 November 1880 − 4 May 1941) was an Australian rugby union and rugby league player – a dual-code rugby international. He represented the Wallabies in over 20 Tests ...

was the standout incumbent five-eighth even though McKivat had greater career success at half-back. The selectors generally opted for Fred Wood, the tour vice-captain at half, with McKivat at fly-half. Prentice made a handful of tour match appearances at centre and at five-eighth and the Howell reference quotes Pollard ''"he distinguished himself by his unselfish team play and clever-cross-kicking for his loose forwards and wingers.....and was an astute cover-defender who on numerous occasions saved certain tries by launching himself at opposition wingers when they were set to score".''Howell p48 In the tour match before the first Test Prentice scored the try of the match stepping through the whole team before touching down in the corner Prentice made his Test debut against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British ...

on 12 December 1908 at five-eighth and paired with McKivat. He set up the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

' first try scored by Tom Richards though Australia lost the Test 6–9. Prentice had to leave the field twice for treatment after being kicked in the mouth and his injury caused him to miss the next five tour matches. In January he earned his second cap in the Test against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He played at centre in the 9–3 win. By the end of the tour which also took in Canada and the US, Prentice had played in 13 of the 35 matches. In 1910 he represented for Australia in three internationals against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. His representative career highlight came in 1912 when he was selected as touring captain of the Wallabies squad for the 1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the USA. The tour was a disappointment with the squad billeted out in college fraternity houses where the hospitality played havoc with team discipline and as result the team lost against two California University sides and three Canadian provincial sides. They rose to the occasion for the sole Test of the tour against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

where Prentice earned his final cap and kicked a penalty goal to score his only international career points. All told Ward Prentice played for Australia on thirty-two occasions including six Tests, one as captain. Postcard - Wallabies 1908

Cricket career

His first-class cricket debut came in 1913 when he kept wicket for

Victor Trumper Victor Thomas Trumper (2 November 1877 – 28 June 1915) was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found ...

side, against

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association fo ...

. Although he fell for a duck in his only innings, he took the catches of both Queensland opening batsmen. Prentice had to wait until 1921 for his second and final first-class appearance when he captained New South Wales against the same opponents and on the same ground. Again playing as a wicket-keeper, Prentice made another duck and didn't take a catch.

Rugby league career

In 1920, Prentice joined his brother Clarrie a Western Suburbs rugby league stalwart who played 115 games with the club in a war-interrupted career over nine years. Ward played five first grade games for the Magpies in the

New South Wales Rugby League The New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) is the governing body of rugby league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission. It was formed in Sydney on 8 August 1907 and was ...

in season 1920. Their older brother Archie had also played for the club (27 games) in 1915–16.

Footnotes

References

* Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead - Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ

External links