Lonnie Spragg
Encyclopedia
Alonzo Stephen "Lonnie" Spragg (2 October 1879 – 12 February 1904) was a rugby union
player who represented Australia
.
Spragg, a centre, was born in Redfern, New South Wales
and claimed four international rugby caps for Australia. He did not start playing rugby until he was seventeen and two years later he made his Test debut was against Great Britain, at Sydney, on 24 June 1899, the inaugural rugby Test match played by an Australian national representative
side. Due to funding constraints he was one of only six New South Wales
players (with Charlie Ellis
, Hyram Marks
, Bob McCowan
, Peter Ward
& Robert Challoner
) selected to make the trip to Brisbane four weeks later for the second Test. Zavos describes Spragg as a "crack three-quarter" and a "brilliant outside back". He quotes contemporary commentators describing Spragg as "possessing rare gifts, denoting a special aptitude for the game.....a splendid kick, either place or drop and eager and capable on defence"
Spragg was also a state representative oarsman, and a cricketer who captained the Norths Brisbane Cricket Club.
Spragg died in February 1904 at the age of 25, from appendicitis and peritonitis. A memorial was erected at Toowong Cemetery to his memory.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player who represented Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Spragg, a centre, was born in Redfern, New South Wales
Redfern, New South Wales
Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...
and claimed four international rugby caps for Australia. He did not start playing rugby until he was seventeen and two years later he made his Test debut was against Great Britain, at Sydney, on 24 June 1899, the inaugural rugby Test match played by an Australian national representative
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
side. Due to funding constraints he was one of only six New South Wales
New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...
players (with Charlie Ellis
Charlie Ellis
Charles L. Seymour "Charlie" Ellis was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Ellis, a lock and flanker, was born in Newcastle, New South Wales and claimed a total of four international rugby caps for Australia...
, Hyram Marks
Hyram Marks
Hyram A. Marks was a rugby union player who represented Australia.Marks, a lock, was born in Sydney, NSW and attended Sydney Grammar School and Sydney University. He claimed two international rugby caps for Australia and was the University rugby club's first Wallaby representative...
, Bob McCowan
Bob McCowan
Robert Herman "Bob" McCowan was a pioneer Australian rugby union player, a state and national representative fullback who played in his country's first Test series of 1899, captaining the national side on one occasion....
, Peter Ward
Peter Ward (rugby)
Peter M. Ward was a rugby union player who represented Australia.A fly-half, he was born in Invercargill and claimed a total of four international rugby caps for Australia. His Test debut was against Great Britain, at Sydney, on 24 June 1899, the inaugural rugby Test match played by an Australian...
& Robert Challoner
Robert Challoner
Robert Louis Challoner was a rugby union player who represented for Australia.Challoner, a number 8, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and claimed a total of 1 international rugby caps for Australia...
) selected to make the trip to Brisbane four weeks later for the second Test. Zavos describes Spragg as a "crack three-quarter" and a "brilliant outside back". He quotes contemporary commentators describing Spragg as "possessing rare gifts, denoting a special aptitude for the game.....a splendid kick, either place or drop and eager and capable on defence"
Spragg was also a state representative oarsman, and a cricketer who captained the Norths Brisbane Cricket Club.
Spragg died in February 1904 at the age of 25, from appendicitis and peritonitis. A memorial was erected at Toowong Cemetery to his memory.
Published references
- Collection (1995) Gordon Bray presents The Spirit of Rugby, Harper Collins Publishers Sydney
- Howell, Max (2005) Born to Lead - Wallaby Test Captains, Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ
External links
- Spragg Stephen Alvinzo — Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search (Note that his middle name is wrong).