Doug Phillips (rugby)
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| Born | 28 June 1919 Neath, Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 28 April 2000 (aged 80) Neath, Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 14 st 7 lb (92.1 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Second-row | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Douglas Versailles Phillips (28 June 1919 – 28 April 2000) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played representative level rugby union for Glamorgan (two occasions), and at club level for Swansea RFC. Having switched codes to rugby league he played representative level rugby league for Great Britain and Wales; and at club level for Oldham and Belle Vue Rangers, as a second-row.[1][4]
Phillips was born in Neath, Wales on the day the Treaty of Versailles was signed and as a result was given the middle name of Versailles.[3] As a schoolboy he played rugby union for Neath Schoolboys and was playing for Swansea RFC's first team when aged only 18. Two appearances for Glamorgan followed as well as two trials for the Welsh national side before the Second World War intervened and Phillips joined the army.[3] During the war Phillips played for the Combined Services XV and featured in a rugby union match at Odsal Stadium, Bradford in April 1944 against the Combined Services rugby league XV. Phillips scored the opening try of the game although the league XV ran out 15–10 winners.[5] Opposing Phillips in the rugby league XV were three players he would later tour Australia and New Zealand with; Ernest Ward, Ike Owens and Trevor Foster. Phillips performance in this game brought him to the attention of several rugby league clubs and he signed for Oldham towards the end of 1944.[3]
