David Bedell-Sivright
Ottoman Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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School | Fettes College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | Trinity College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Surgeon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Military career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | First World War
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David Revell "Darkie" Bedell-Sivright (8 December 1880 – 5 September 1915) was a Scottish international
The next year Bedell-Sivright was appointed captain for the British Isles team that toured Australia and New Zealand. Due to a broken leg he played only one Test match during the tour – against Australia – but was involved in a notable incident during a non-Test match. Despite not playing, Bedell-Sivright pulled the British team from the field for 20 minutes after disputing the decision by a local referee to send-off one of their players. Bedell-Sivright eventually allowed his side to resume play, but without their ejected teammate.
Following the tour Bedell-Sivright briefly settled in Australia, before returning to Scotland to study medicine. He captained Scotland against the touring New Zealanders in 1905, and in 1906 helped his country defeat the visiting South Africans 6–0. After retiring from international rugby in 1908 he went on to become Scotland's amateur boxing champion. A surgeon by profession, he joined the
Bedell-Sivright had a reputation as an aggressive and hard rugby player, as well as a ferocious competitor. He was an inaugural inductee into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame, and in 2013 was inducted into the
Personal history
David Bedell-Sivright was born in Edinburgh in 1880 to William Henry Revell Bedell-Sivright of
There are many tales surrounding Bedell-Sivright, and it is difficult to separate fact from fiction.[6] He had a reputation for aggression, and in 1909 became Scottish amateur boxing champion. After one international he rugby tackled a cart horse in Princes Street in Edinburgh after apparently laying down on a city tram track – this held up the traffic for an hour as no policeman would approach him.[6][7] It is not clear exactly where Bedell-Sivright picked up the nickname "Darkie". One explanation is that it was due to "cynical" tactics he employed as captain, the other is that it was due to the dark rings around his eyes.[8]
Military career
On 25 January 1915 Bedell-Sivright was commissioned as a surgeon in the Royal Navy.
Rugby career
Bedell-Sivright learned his rugby while a student at Fettes College,
In 1903 Bedell-Sivright was selected for his first match with invitational touring side the Barbarians. He played a total of five games for the side between 1903 and 1907, and captained them against Cardiff RFC in 1907.[17]
Bedell-Sivright was later chosen to tour with two different British Isles teams. The first was the 1903 tour of South Africa under the captaincy of fellow Scottish international Mark Morrison.[18] Although at the centre of the British Isles pack, Beddel-Sivright did not play in any of the test matches. He played in the first 12 tour matches, where the team won six and lost six, but was injured thereafter.[19][20]
A captain of a team, like a general of an army, has an important part to play, and with every point he must be acquainted, or else disaster will almost invariably befall his side. The British team now on its way to Australasia will, judging from what one can learn, be well served in the way of leadership. D. R. Bedell-Sivright, who has been chosen as the skipper, has had vast experience as a leader.
G. W. McArthur, selector of the 1904 British Isles team, on Bedell-Sivright[21]
In 1904, at the request of the England Rugby Board (known as the Rugby Football Union), Bedell-Sivright was selected to lead a British Lions team on a tour of Australia and New Zealand.[22] He only played in one Test, against Australia, because of a broken leg, but the team did go undefeated in Australia – winning all their matches there, and the three Test matches 17–0, 17–3 and 16–0.[23] A notable incident on the Australian leg of the tour was a dispute between the British side and one of the Australian referees. The referee – Hugh Dolan – had ordered off British Isles player Denys Dobson after claiming Dobson had directed a personal insult at him. Bedell-Sivright was not playing, but pulled his team from the field for 20 minutes while disputing the decision with Dolan and the other officials. Eventually the British side returned to play, but without Dobson.[7] Following the match Bedell-Sivright accused the referee of incompetence, and an inquiry eventually cleared Dobson of using indecent language, but he became the first British Isles player ever ordered off.[7]
Bedell-Sivright was so impressed with Australia that he decided to settle there. After a year he became bored of
In 1906 the South Africans were
Bedell-Sivright was one of the inaugural inductees into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame in 2010,
Writing in 1919, rugby journalist and author E. H. D. Sewell said of Bedell-Sivright "If a plebiscite was taken on the question: "Who was the hardest forward who ever played International football?" Sivright would get most votes if the voting was confined to players, and probably so in any event."[34] Bedell-Sivright is described as one of the "hardest" men to ever play for Scotland,[14] with author Nick Oswald – who wrote a book on the history of Scottish rugby – describing him as "a very aggressive forward. He didn't excel in any one aspect of the game, but he was an absolutely ferocious competitor."[16] On hearing of his death, it was reported that:[35]
It is cabled that Dr. D. R. Bedell-Sivright, who captained the British team in Australia and New Zealand in 1904, has died at the Dardanelles. He was a surgeon in the navy, and it is likely that he died on one of the warships engaged there against the Turks. Sivright was a Scottish forward of the most brilliant type, a hard player, but a clever one. He was one of the finest all-round forwards ever seen in Australia from over the seas. Among the forwards of the teams since 1899 he divided honours with A. F. Harding, the famous Welshman, and, at his best, was fit for a world's team. Sivright as captain was somewhat' dour, but as [a] player he was magnificent. A man of superb physique, it is hard to think that he has died an ordinary death at his age, and not to a bullet from the enemy.
The Referee (Sydney), 15 September 1915
International record
Country | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
England | X | X | X | X | X | ||||
Ireland | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | ||
Wales | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X |
Team | Opponent | Date | Location | Score | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
British Isles | Australia | 2 July 1904 | Sydney | 0–17 | British Isles |
Scotland | New Zealand | 18 November 1905 | Inverleith | 7–12 | New Zealand |
Scotland | South Africa | 17 November 1906 | Glasgow | 6–0 | Scotland |
See also
- List of international rugby union players killed in action during the First World War
Footnotes
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d "David Bedell-Sivright". ESPN. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ISBN 0-86007-552-4.
- ^ Royle, Trevor (10 November 2002). "Remembering the fallen heroes of the rugby community". The Sunday Herald. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014.(subscription required)
- ^ a b "Bedell-Sivright, David (BDL899DR)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ISBN 978-1-905326-24-2.
- ^ a b "Rugby's War Dead" (PDF). Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2010.
- ^ a b c d Walmsely, David (30 June 2005). "1904: Bedell-Sivright pulls no punches". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ Elliot (2012), p. 116.
- ^ "No. 29055". The London Gazette. 2 February 1915. p. 1016.
- ^
- ^ "Casualty details: Bedell-Sivright, David Revell". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
- ^ a b "2013 Inductee: Dr David Bedell-Sivright". International Rugby Board. 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ a b c "Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame Inductees 2010". Scottish Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ a b Andrews, David (1991). "Welsh Indigenous! and British Imperial?–Welsh Rugby, Culture, and Society 1890–1914". Journal of Sport History. 18 (3).
- ^ a b c Fraser, Graham (30 April 2013). "David Bedell-Sivright: British Lion, champion boxer and war surgeon". STV. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ "Barbarian player profile: D. R. Bedell-Sivright". barbarianfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
- ^ "1903 – South Africa". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ "The Lions Down Under – 1904". British Lions Ltd. 21 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ Westgate, Rob Cole (9 November 2010). "Hall of Fame Lions". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ "The British Rugby Team". Otago Witness. 1 June 1904. p. 58. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ "Battling the Lions: 1904". New Zealand Herald. 1 May 2005. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ "1904 – Australia & New Zealand". British Lions Ltd. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ a b c McCarthy (1968), pp. 29–30.
- ^ Elliott (2012), p. 118.
- ^ a b Elliott (2012), p. 125.
- ^ "D. R. Bedell Sivright's Career in Rugby Football". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 3 November 1915. p. 16. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- ^ a b "4th All Black Test – 75th All Black Game". allblacks.com. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ a b c McCarthy (1968), pp. 45–46.
- ^ "Scotland 6–0 South Africa (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ "Gone but not Forgotten – Rugby's War Dead" (PDF). Museum of Rugby Twickenham. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "Legends inducted into IRB Hall of Fame" (Press release). International Rugby Board. 18 November 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
- ^ "The 'Bedell-Sivright' Scholarship Fund". Edinburgh University RFC. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "Scottish Rugby International Casualties" (PDF). The University of Edinburgh. December 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "Death of D. R. Bedell-Sivright". The Referee. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 15 September 1915. p. 12. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
Bibliography
- McCarthy, Winston (1968). Haka! The All Blacks Story. London: Pelham Books.
- Elliott, Matt (2012). Dave Gallaher—The Original All Black Captain. Auckland, New Zealand: HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 978-1-86950-968-2.
External links
- "An entire team wiped out by the Great War". The Scotsman. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- David Bedell-Sivright at the World Rugby Hall of Fame