- Ask Steven
A momentous half-century
John GriffithsMarch 9, 2015
Who held the record for youngest to 50 Test caps before George North? Mike Carr, England
George North became the youngest player to appear in 50 Tests when he faced France in Paris last month. At 22 years and 321 days he knocked more than a year off the previous record which had been set by Australia's Joe Roff during the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Roff was 24 years and 40 days when he reached the milestone in the quarter-final against South Africa at Twickenham.
International rugby began in 1871 but it wasn't until 1955 that the first half-century of Test appearances was achieved. Jean Prat, a famous French captain, was 31 when he reached the mark against Wales in Paris in March of that year.
After World War Two France regularly awarded caps for international matches against Italy and Romania as well as for Tests played on tours to Argentina. That enabled their Test players to accumulate caps at a faster rate than players in Britain, Ireland and the three main southern hemisphere nations.
The first player to reach the 50-mark before the age of 30 was another Frenchman, Amedee Domenech (in November 1962 when he was 28). His compatriot Benoit Dauga was 27 when he became the record-holder.
The first Home Unions player to reach fifty caps was Jack Kyle in 1958 and the first to do so before the age of 30 was Willie-John McBride, who reached the landmark in March 1970 (when he was 29).
Gareth Edwards was the first home player to hold the world record. He played his 50th Test in March 1975, beating Dauga by a couple of months.
John Griffiths is a widely respected rugby historian and is the author of several sports books, a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and co-author of the IRB International Rugby Yearbook. He has provided insight for Scrum.com since 1999.
