THE OBOLENSKY BRONZE
Stuart Hulse
Prince Alexander Obolensky’s profile has received two boosts at Twickenham, with a new bronze of the Russian-born icon on display at the World Rugby Museum and ‘Obo’ reaching the final five in the ‘try of the century’ shortlist at the Centenary Dinner. Obolensky’s two tries at Twickenham for England in 1936 on the w9 year old’s international debut, against New Zealand, have also been included in Brendan Callagher’s ‘top 10 tries ever’ in the Daily Telegraph. The former Oxford, Rosslyn Park and Leicester star was killed when training as a RAF pilot in a wartime Hurricane fighter accident near Ipswich in early 1940. He is buried in the town, where a statue of him, by the celebrated sculptor Harry Gray, was unveiled by his niece Princess Alexandra this year. The new bronze of ‘Obo’ in action (picture), which Harry Gray (www.harrygray.co.uk) calls ‘The Winger’ could be available for rugby enthusiasts to purchase in a smaller, reproduced form. Anyone interested should contact Harry. With the first-ever biography and a TV documentary planned on ‘the flying prince’, his family is seeking information from anyone who may have known him in the 1930s or have reports of his life and rugby career. Details to aobolensky@btclick.com England–All Blacks games at Twickenham revive memories of ‘Obo’s’ great second try in 1936 when England beat New Zealand for the first time – 13-0. The Times called it ‘genius’. The 72,000 there, along with the Duke of Windsor (later Edward VIII) and Movietone / Pathé film audiences, were lucky spectators. Sadly, luck for the hero himself ran out too soon. You can see the Obo bronze at the World Rugby Museum – open Tues – Sun, with Stadium Tours throughout the year. Visit www.rfu.com/museum or phone 020 8898 8877 for further details.
