Rugby player
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| Birth name | Murray Godfred Francis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1907-08-26)26 August 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bloemfontein, Orange River Colony | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 2 August 1961(1961-08-02) (aged 53) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Bloemfontein, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Kingswood College, Grahamstown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Cricket information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1925/26–1945/46 | Orange Free State | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1934/35 | Western Province | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: Cricinfo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Murray Godfred "Tiny" Francis (26 August 1907 – 2 August 1961) was a South African rugby union player, first-class cricketer and hockey player.
Rugby union career
Francis was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa and educated at Kingswood College in Grahamstown. He represented the Free State at provincial level from 1926 to 1931 and then again from 1936 to 1938, gaining over 60 caps for his province. He also represented Northern Province for the All Blacks tour of South Africa in 1928 and again against the British touring side of 1938. During the period 1932 to 1936, he spent in Cape Town, where he played club rugby for Gardens and Hamiltons.
Francis toured with the Springboks to Britain and Ireland in 1931. He was the understudy to the team captain, Bennie Osler and did not play in any test matches, but did play in 8 tour matches. He scored 18 points for the Springboks during the tour, which included 1 try, 4 conversions, 1 penalty goal and 1 drop goal.
Cricket career
Francis played first-class cricket for Orange Free State and Western Province. He played 29 first-class matches and scored 1747 runs at an average of 35.65, with a high score of 125. He also took 18 wickets with a best of 5/50.
See also
- List of South Africa national rugby union players – Springbok no. 218
References
- ^ Heath, Duane; Grieb, Eddie; Smit, Kobus (2020). South African Rugby Annual 2020. Cape Town: South African Rugby Union. p. 237. ISBN 9780620872041.
- ^ "Murray Francis". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- "History". Hamilton SP RFC. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- "Springbok Rugby Tests".
- Parker, A. C. (1990). W.P. cricket 100 - not out. Cape Town: WPCU. p. 196. ISBN 0-620-14738-5. OCLC 122317315.