Frank O'Brien (rugby union)

Frank O'Brien

Full name	Frank William Hall O'Brien
Date of birth	(1910-07-19)19 July 1910
Place of birth	Lindfield, Sydney, Australia
Date of death	23 December 1984(1984-12-23) (aged 74)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1937–38 Australia 2 (3)

Frank William Hall O'Brien (19 July 1910 — 23 December 1984) was an Australian rugby union international.

Born in Sydney, O'Brien was gifted in several sports in his youth. While attending North Sydney Boys High School, he had three years in the 1st XV rugby and 1st XI cricket teams, before transferring to Sydney Grammar School for his final year.^[1]

O'Brien was a five-time New South Wales state pentathlon champion and in 1932 won a national title for the 440 yard sprint, beating 1930 British Empire Games bronze medallist George Golding.^[1][2]

A winger, O'Brien won a first-grade rugby premiership with Northern Suburbs in 1935 and the following year joined Gordon for the club's debut Shute Shield season. After scoring two tries for New South Wales against the touring Springboks in 1937, he earned a Wallabies call up for the 2nd Test and scored a try on debut, becoming Gordon's first international representative. He was capped a second time in a Test against the All Blacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1938.^[1][3]

See also

• List of Australia national rugby union players

References

1. "Frank William Hall O'Brien". classicwallabies.com.au.
2. "Sound Quarter". The Sporting Globe. 27 January 1932. p. 11 (Edition 2) – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Test Match Scenes Disgrace To Union". Truth. 18 July 1937. p. 6 – via National Library of Australia.

External links

• Frank O'Brien at ESPNscrum