imported>Jevansen: Moving from Category:Watsonians RFC players to Category:Watsonian FC players using Cat-a-lot

2024-11-01T06:11:04Z

Moving from Category:Watsonians RFC players to Category:Watsonian FC players using Cat-a-lot

New page

{{Short description|British Lions & Scotland international rugby union player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Moritz Speirs
| image = L M Speirs 1908 Scotland Rugby.png
| caption = L M Speirs with the Scotland national rugby union team for their 16-10 win over England on 21 March 1908.
| birth_name = Louis Moritz Speirs
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1885|10|23}}
| birth_place = [[Glendevon]], [[Perthshire]], [[Scotland]]<ref>1891 Scotland Census. Reels 1-409. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland., Parish: Glendevon; ED: 1; Page: 4; Line: 5; Roll: CSSCT1891_112; Year: 1891.</ref>
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1949|04|21|1885|10|23|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| height =
| weight =
| position = Forward
| repteam1 = [[Scotland national rugby union team|Scotland]]
| repteam2 = [[British & Irish Lions]]
| repcaps1 = 10
| reppoints1 =
| ru_ntupdate =
| repyears1 = 1906-10
| repyears2 = 1910
| provinceyears1 =
| provinceyears2 =
| provinceyears3 = 1911
| province1 = [[Edinburgh District (rugby union)|Edinburgh District]]
| province2 = [[Cities District (rugby union)|Cities District]]
| province3 = [[Blues Trial]]
| provinceapps1 =
| provincepoints1 =
| amatyears1 =
| ru_clubupdate =
| apps1 =
| points1 =
| amatteam1 = [[Watsonians RFC|Watsonians]]
| school = [[George Watson's College]]
| alt = Black and white photograph of Louis Moritz Speirs seated, wearing a Scottish rugby strip and with other rugby players seated and standing near him.
}}

'''Louis Moritz Speirs''' was a Scottish [[rugby union]] international who played ten times for his country and was part of the first official [[British & Irish Lions]] team that [[1910 British Lions tour to South Africa|toured South Africa in 1910]].

==Early life==
Louis Moritz Speirs was born on 23 October 1885 in [[Glendevon]], [[Perthshire]], [[Scotland]], the son of Ebenezer B. Speirs, the minister of Glendevon Parish, and his wife Marie, born in [[Ronilly]], [[West Prussia]]. Sometime between 1891 and 1901 his father died and the family moved to the Morningside area of Edinburgh.<ref>1901 Scotland Census. Reels 1-446. General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland. Parish: Edinburgh Morningside; ED: 139; Page: 22; Line: 19; Roll: CSSCT1901_391; Year: 1901.</ref> Here, the young Moritz, as he was referred to, attended to school.

==Rugby Union career==

===Amateur career===

Speirs played for the [[Watsonians RFC|Watsonians]], originally the club for the old boys of [[George Watson's College]]. He was part of the clubest historically greatest side that won five [[Scottish Unofficial Championship]]s between 1908 and 1914. In the 1909/10 season he was a member of the team that was undefeated against Scottish opposition during that entire season.

===Provincial career===

He was capped for [[Edinburgh District (rugby union)|Edinburgh District]] to play against [[Glasgow District (rugby union)|Glasgow District]] in the inter-city match of [[1906–07 Scottish Districts season|1906]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e9VAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aKYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6845,3400460|title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|accessdate=9 December 2023}}</ref>

That same season, Speirs was further capped byt the Cities District side in early 1907.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000540/19070114/190/0005 |title=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]}}</ref>

He played for the [[Blues Trial]] side against the [[Whites Trial]] side on [[1910–11 Scottish Districts season|21 January 1911]] while still with Watsonians.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000576/19110123/110/0009 |title= British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]}}</ref>

===International career===

Speirs made his Test debut for Scotland vs South Africa at Glasgow on 17 November 1906. He played in a further nine matches for his country between 1906 and 1910 all of which were in the [[Six Nations Championship|Five Nations]] tournament. His last Test being a [[Calcutta Cup]] match against England at [[Inverleith Sports Ground|Inverleith]] on 19 March 1910.<ref>[http://www.scrum.com/sixnations/rugby/player/1833.html Profile on ESPN Scrum.com]</ref> In 1910 he was selected for the first official [[British & Irish Lions|British]] [[1910 British Lions tour to South Africa|tour to South Africa]] (in that it was sanctioned and selected by the four Home Nations official governing bodies).

==Later life and military==

In 1912 Speirs emigrated to Canada. However, during the [[First World War]] he enlisted in the Canadian 16th Battalion and found himself back across the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]]. On 16 January 1915 he captained a Canadian Army rugby union side against a Bath XV during which he dislocated his shoulder. However, he was able to later join his teammates at the Red House where [[Bath Rugby|Bath Football Club]] were entertaining them before going on to a pantomime.<ref>Derek Tait, ''Bath in the Great War – Your Towns and Cities in the Great War'', Pen and Sword, 2015, {{ISBN|1473865689}}, 9781473865686</ref> He was captured during the war and escaped from a [[POW camp]] in 1918.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{British and Irish Lions 1910}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speirs, Louis}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish rugby union players]]
[[Category:Rugby union forwards]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from Clackmannanshire]]
[[Category:Scotland international rugby union players]]
[[Category:Watsonian FC players]]
[[Category:Cities District players]]
[[Category:Edinburgh District (rugby union) players]]

Louis Moritz Speirs - Revision history

imported>Jevansen: Moving from Category:Watsonians RFC players to Category:Watsonian FC players using Cat-a-lot