Neil Adams (rugby union)

{{Short description|Rugby player (1923–1986)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Use Australian English|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox rugby biography

| name = Neil Adams

| image =

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| full_name = Neil Joseph Adams

| birth_date = {{birth date|1923|08|26|df=y}}

| birth_place = Wyong, NSW, Australia

| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|04|12|1923|08|26|df=y}}

| death_place =

| height =

| weight =

| occupation =

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| relatives =

| position = Prop

| repyears1 = 1955

| repteam1 = {{nrut|Australia}}

| repcaps1 = 1

| reppoints1 = 0

}}

Neil Joseph Adams (26 August 1923 – 12 April 1986) was an Australian rugby union international.

Adams was born in Wyong on the NSW Central Coast and went to school in Newcastle, attending Marist Brothers Hamilton until he left at age 14 to become a carpet layer. After playing rugby league for the Army in the war years, during which he served in the Pacific, he made his first-grade rugby debut for his club Merewether Carlton in 1946.{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=Rod |title=Hunter Rugby rivals eye off Adams-Halter Anzac Shield |url=https://newcastleweekly.com.au/hunter-rugby-rivals-eye-off-adams-halter-anzac-shield/ |work=Newcastle Weekly |date=22 April 2021 |language=en-AU}}

A powerful prop, Adams had several years as a New South Wales representative before getting a Wallabies call up for the 1955 tour of New Zealand, at the late age of 31. He gained his solitary Wallabies cap in the 1st Test in Wellington.{{cite web |title=Neil Joseph Adams |url=https://classicwallabies.com.au/players/neil-joseph-adams |website=classicwallabies.com.au |language=en}}

Adams, who had six years as a NSW Country selector, died of pneumonia in 1986 aged 62.{{cite news |title=Neil Adams dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123921135 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=15 April 1986}}