HAL SEVER was the oldest surviving England rugby international. He also had the distinction of being the last of those who played in the celebrated fixture against the All Blacks at Twickenham in 1936.
This is the game that came to be known as “Obolensky’s match”. Prince Alexander, the Russian wing three-quarter, scored two tries to help to secure one of England’s most memorable victories at Twickenham and to ensure his place in the annals of the English game. The third try scored that day was by the other wing, Hal Sever. The 13-0 win was the first time that New Zealand had lost on English soil. It established a landmark in England’s rugby history similar to that accomplished by the World Cup victory in 2003.
While this was to be Obolensky’s last appearance for England, Sever, a player of solid build and a prolific points scorer, went on to make other important contributions in the colours of his country.
Sever was one of that rare breed of international rugby players who were educated at soccer schools. That education was apparent, perhaps, in his unsuccessful attempt against Scotland in 1936 to convert a try by kicking the ball with his instep rather than toe-end of his boot. The former method would still appear revolutionary more than 30 years later but today has become the orthodox way of place-kicking.
Harry Sedgwick Sever was born in Timperley, Cheshire, in 1910. He won his colours in cricket, soccer and athletics at Shrewsbury School. A maths scholar, he chose to become an actuary rather than go to university. He joined Refuge Assurance in Manchester, where he stayed for 40 years, rising to the post of managing director.
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It was only after leaving school, and then more by default than design, that he started playing rugby. He had the chance to play football for the Liverpool Ramblers, but the distance between the two cities would prove to be too far and too costly. Unhappy without sporting activity in winter, he was persuaded by a friend to play for Bowden Rugby Club.
Weighing 14 stone, Sever began his first game as a forward, but with his play understandably suffering from not knowing the laws he was transferred at half time to the seclusion of wing. There, acting on the instruction to “run like bloody hell for the corner”, he quickly enjoyed remarkable success.
He advanced from the third team to the first in consecutive weeks and the following season joined Sale. He scored seven tries in his first two matches, and in the two seasons between 1933 and 1935 he accumulated the remarkable record of 93 tries.
He had represented Cheshire at cricket and in 1936 he played for the combined Cheshire and Lancashire team against the visiting All Blacks. Even though his team lost 21-18, Sever scored a try and performed well enough overall in this and the England trials to earn his first cap against the tourists in January 1936.
He played in England’s Triple Crown team of the 1936-37 season, ensuring his team’s success by scoring winning points against each of the other three home countries (France did not play in the series). While he scored tries against Ireland and Scotland, he got on the scoreboard by other means against Wales. Taking advantage of a rare chance when the ball bounced fortuitously off the shoulder of the prop forward Robin Prescott, Sever dropped a goal to win the match.
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But for the war Sever might have won more than the ten caps he had up to 1938. In scoring five tries and a drop goal he had set a high personal average. He was selected for the Lions tour to South Africa in 1938 but, as was often the way in those days, found that he could not go because of business and family commitments.
Golf and bridge remained his great pleasures until failing eyesight took its toll when he was well into his nineties.His wife, Leila, died in 1990. In his remaining years he found happiness with his partner, Valerie. He leaves a son and daughter.
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Harry Sever, rugby international, was born on March 3, 1910. He died on June 2, 2005, aged 95.