Mel Rosser
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| Birth name | Melville Aaron Rosser | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 18 April 1901 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Machen, Caerphilly County Borough, Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 8 September 1988 (aged 87) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | York, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | police officer publican | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Backs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Melville "Mel" Aaron Rosser sometimes recorded as Melvin and Melvyn (18 April 1901 – 8 September 1988) was a Welsh international rugby centre who played rugby union for Penarth and Cardiff and later turned to professional rugby league joining first Leeds, and then York. Rosser played international rugby for Wales under both union and league codes, and toured Australia with the Great Britain rugby league team in 1928.[1][2][3][5]
International rugby union matches played
Mel Rosser began his rugby career with his local rugby club Machen RFC, before moving to first class team Cardiff. He played two seasons for Cardiff, scoring four tries during his period with the club.[6] During the 1923–24 season, Rosser switched from Cardiff to local rival club Penarth. It was as a Penarth player that he was first selected for international duty, selected for Wales to face Scotland as part of the 1924 Five Nations Championship. Rosser was brought in at centre, partnered with Jack Elwyn Evans of Llanelli. The game was a sporting disaster, with Scotland inflicting their heaviest victory over Wales, and running up a record breaking score in a 35–10 win.[7]
Although Rosser was dropped after the Scotland game, missing the encounter with Ireland, he was reselected for the final game of the Championship, away to France. Rosser was originally intended to play at centre, but on the train trip to Paris the Welsh selectors suspended Ossie Male as he had broken a rule preventing any player from representing Wales if they had played club rugby within the week leading up to the international match.[8] With no other fullback aboard the train, Rosser was switched to an emergency fullback with reserve player Joe Jones drafted into the backs.[8] It was a narrow win for Wales, with the victory coming thanks to a Vince Griffiths dropped goal.
During his rugby union career, Griffiths also represented Glamorgan County and as a serving police officer, he also played for Glamorgan Police.[9]
Wales[10]
