Angus Stuart
{{Short description|British Isles & New Zealand international rugby union player}}
{{for|the Australian Olympic bobsledder|Angus Stuart (bobsleigh)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Angus Stuart
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Angus John Stuart
| birth_date = {{birth date|1858|6|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1923|10|8|1858|6|10|df=yes}}
| death_place = Dewsbury, England
| height =
| weight = 76kg
| position = Forward
| amatyears1 = pre-1883
| amatyears2 = pre-1883
| amatyears3 = 1883-1886
| amatyears4 = 1886-1888
| amatyears5 = 1893-?
| amatteam1 = Rusholme
| amatteam2 = Salford
| amatteam3 = Cardiff RFC
| amatteam4 = Dewsbury
| amatteam5 = Poneke Rugby Club
| ru_amclubcaps =
| ru_amclubpoints =
| ru_amupdate =
| provinceyears1 = 1888
| province1 = Yorkshire
| provinceapps1 =
| provincepoints1 =
| repyears1 = 1888
| repyears2 = 1893
| repteam1 = British Isles
| repteam2 = New Zealand
| repcaps1 = 0
| repcaps2 = 0
| reppoints1 = 0
| reppoints2 = 0
| ru_ntupdate =
}}
Angus John Stuart (10 June 1858 – 8 October 1923){{All Blacks|856}} also known as Angus Stewart was a Scottish-born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff and Dewsbury. Although never capped at international level in his own country, in 1888 Stuart was chosen to tour New Zealand and Australia as part of the first British Isles team. Stuart later settled in New Zealand and played rugby for the All Blacks.
Rugby career
Stuart initially played rugby for Rusholme and then Salford.{{cite web |date=27 April 1888 |title=The English team |work=Otago Witness |publisher=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=OW18880427.2.61.4&srpos=1&e=--1888---1889--10-OW-1----0bumby+pendlebury-- |accessdate=20 June 2017}} Stuart first came to note as a rugby player when he joined Cardiff Football Club during their fledgling years in 1883. Stuart played 50 games for Cardiff at threequarters and remained at the club until 1886.Davies (1975), pg 225. In 1886 Stuart and fellow Cardiff player William "Buller" Stadden stated that they intended to join English team Dewsbury.Davies (1975), pg 30. Both players stated that the reason for switching clubs was purely financial, as they were out of employment and had made friends with several Dewsbury players when the team toured Wales.{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Tony |year=1998 |title=Rugby's Great Split, Class, Culture and Origins of Rugby League Football |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7146-4867-5 |page=56}} It was later discovered that the employment the players found in Dewsbury, was with Newsome, Sons and Spedding, a textiles company partially owned by Mark Newsome, president and former captain of Dewsbury. Although Cardiff later complained that this was backdoor professionalism, no evidence was found to prove that money had been exchanged and no charges were brought.
In 1888, Stuart was approached to join the first British overseas touring rugby team, on a trip to Australia and New Zealand. The tour was organised as a financial venture, and had no backing from any of the Home Nation Unions. Despite this, the tour went ahead, taking in 35 games against invitational and club teams. Stuart is recorded as having played in 23 games, scoring one try, but being switched from the backs into a forwards role.[http://www.lionsrugby.com/6012.php?player=74260&includeref=dynamic Angus Stuart player profile] lionsrugby.com
At the end of the tour, Stuart decided to remain in New Zealand and settled down there.[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW19090303.2.207&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-all Otago Witness 1909] There he played club rugby for Poneke Rugby Club in Wellington and in 1893 he toured Australia with the New Zealand national team.[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=NZTR19240510.2.51.4&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-all Some Sidelights on International Rugby] NZ Truth, 1924 Stuart played in seven games of the tour, but none were against international opposition, so again he did not win a sporting cap. Stuart returned to Britain in 1902, and at one point worked in South Wales. He died in Dewsbury in October 1923 at the age of 65.{{cite web |title=Index entry |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS |url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=0ZQJU7fDQX%2FJUCw%2F3N3rGA&scan=1 |accessdate=13 September 2009}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Davies |first=D.E. |year=1975 |title=Cardiff Rugby Club, History and Statistics 1876–1975 |publisher=The Starling Press |location=Risca |isbn=0-9504421-0-0}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{British and Irish Lions 1888}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, Angus}}
Category:Dewsbury Rams players
Category:Salford Red Devils players
Category:Scottish rugby union players
Category:New Zealand rugby union players
Category:New Zealand people of Scottish descent
Category:British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland