Christmas Day is one of those few moments nowadays where the sporting carousel stops turning, but it wasn’t always the case, as Rugby World’s Vivian Jenkins reminisced upon in his editorial for the January 1963 edition of the magazine.
“The Rugby man’s Christmas has always been a mixed affair, with the turkey and plum pudding warring for first place with the demands of club loyalties,” he wrote.
“I once played in two matches between [Swansea and Neath] on Christmas Day and Boxing Day in 1939. Home on leave from OCTU, I was roped in by Neath – not my regular peace-time club – and shall not forget the occasion.
“On Christmas Day, we won at Neath, by what score I cannot remember, on a frost-hard ground. Things were fairly lively before the game ended, but nothing to what happened at Swansea the next day. Two players were sent off in next to no time, and half-a dozen stand up fights seemed to be going on at the same time.
“It took the referee all his time to duck under some of the left hooks that were flying around. No wonder he decided to thin out the ranks of the ‘opposition’!”
Goodwill to all men. It’s the Christmas way – read all about it here.
