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{{Short description|Australia international rugby union & league player and cricketer}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Ward Prentice
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Warden Selby Prentice<ref name="scrum" >{{cite web|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/player/1994.html|title=Scrum.com player profile of Ward Prentice|publisher=Scrum.com|accessdate=12 July 2010}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date|1886|7|30|df=y}}<ref name="scrum" />
| birth_place = [[Homebush, New South Wales]]<ref name="scrum" />
| death_date = {{death date and age|1969|2|26|1886|7|30|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Rosebery, New South Wales]]
| relatives = Archie, [[Clarrie Prentice|Clarrie]] (Brothers)
| height =
| weight =
| ru_position = [[Centre (rugby union)|centre]],<ref name="scrum" /> [[Fly-half (rugby union)|first five-eighth]]
| repyears1 = 1908-12 | repteam1 = [[Australia national rugby union team|Australia]]<ref name="scrum" />
| repcaps1 = 6 | reppoints1 = 3
| years1 =
| clubs1 = [[West Harbour RFC|Western Suburbs]]
| clubs2 = [[Eastern Suburbs District RUFC|Eastern Suburbs]]
| apps1 =129
| apps2 =2
| points1 =
| ru_clubupdate =
| province1 = [[New South Wales Waratahs|New South Wales]]
| provinceyears1 = 1908-12
| provinceapps1 = 25
| provincepoints1 =
| module = {{infobox rugby league biography | embed = yes
| position = [[Rugby league positions#Stand-off|Five-eighth]]
| year1start = 1920
| club1 = [[Western Suburbs Magpies|Western Suburbs]]
| appearances1 = 5
| points1 = 11
}}
}}
'''Warden Selby Prentice''' (30 July 1886 – 26 February 1969) was an Australian sportsman who captained Australia at [[rugby union]] and [[New South Wales cricket team|New South Wales]] at [[first-class cricket]] and also played first-grade [[rugby league]] for the [[Western Suburbs Magpies]].

==Rugby union career==
Ward Prentice and four of his brothers played first grade [[rugby union]] in Sydney at various times and two others played in the lower grades. Ward and two of his brothers later played first grade [[rugby league]]. Ward's club career started with his local [[West Harbour RFC|Western Suburbs RUFC]] and he made his representative debut in 1908 for [[New South Wales Waratahs|New South Wales]] against a touring Anglo-Welsh side.

In 1908 he was selected in the 31-man squad for the [[1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of the British Isles and France]]. [[Chris McKivat]] was the standout incumbent five-eighth even though McKivat had greater career success at half-back. The selectors generally opted for Fred Wood, the tour vice-captain at half, with McKivat at fly-half. Prentice made a handful of tour match appearances at centre and at five-eighth and the Howell reference quotes Pollard ''"he distinguished himself by his unselfish team play and clever-cross-kicking for his loose forwards and wingers.....and was an astute cover-defender who on numerous occasions saved certain tries by launching himself at opposition wingers when they were set to score".''<ref name="Howell p48">Howell p48</ref> In the tour match before the first Test Prentice scored the try of the match stepping through the whole team before touching down in the corner<ref name="Howell p48" />

Prentice made his Test debut against [[Wales national rugby union team|Wales]] at [[Cardiff Arms Park]] on 12 December 1908 at five-eighth and paired with McKivat. He set up the [[Australia national rugby union team|Wallabies]]' first try scored by [[Tom Richards (rugby union)|Tom Richards]] though Australia lost the Test 6–9. Prentice had to leave the field twice for treatment after being kicked in the mouth and his injury caused him to miss the next five tour matches. In January he earned his second cap in the Test against [[England national rugby union team|England]]. He played at centre in the 9–3 win. By the end of the tour which also took in Canada and the US, Prentice had played in 13 of the 35 matches.

In 1910 he represented for Australia in three internationals against [[All Blacks|New Zealand]]. His representative career highlight came in 1912 when he was selected as touring captain of the Wallabies squad for the [[1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the United States]].<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239177493 Australian Rugby Team (Touring America), 1912, ''The Daily Telegraph'', (Wednesday, 18 September 1912), p.15.]</ref> The tour was a disappointment with the squad billeted out in college fraternity houses where the hospitality played havoc with team discipline and as result the team lost against two California University sides and three Canadian provincial sides. They rose to the occasion for the sole Test of the tour against the [[United States national rugby union team|United States]] where Prentice earned his final cap and kicked a penalty goal to score his only international career points.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espnscrum.com/australia/rugby/player/1994.html|title=Ward Prentice|publisher=Scrum.com}}</ref>

All told Ward Prentice played for Australia on thirty-two occasions including six Tests, one as captain.
[[File:Postcard - Wallabies 1908.jpg|thumb|centre|600px|Prentice middle row 2nd from right, with the [[1908–09 Australia rugby union tour of Britain|1908 Wallaby tour squad]]]]

==Cricket career==
His first-class cricket debut came in 1913 when he kept wicket for [[Victor Trumper]]'s [[New South Wales cricket team|New South Wales]] side, against [[Queensland Bulls|Queensland]] at the [[Sydney Cricket Ground]]. Although he fell for a duck in his only innings, he took the catches of both Queensland opening batsmen.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/8/8937.html|title=New South Wales v Queensland 1912/13|publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> Prentice had to wait until 1921 for his second and final first-class appearance when he captained New South Wales against the same opponents and on the same ground. Again playing as a wicket-keeper, Prentice made another duck and didn't take a catch.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/10/10005.html|title=New South Wales v Queensland 1920/21|publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref>

==Rugby league career==
In 1920, Prentice joined his brother [[Clarrie Prentice|Clarrie]] a [[Western Suburbs Magpies|Western Suburbs rugby league]] stalwart who played 115 games with the club in a war-interrupted career over nine years. Ward played five first grade games for the Magpies in the [[New South Wales Rugby League]] in [[New South Wales Rugby Football League season 1920|season 1920]]. Their older brother Archie had also played for the club (27 games) in 1915–16.

==See also==
* [[List of New South Wales representative cricketers]]
* [[1912 Australia rugby union tour of Canada and the United States]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [[Max Howell (educator)|Howell, Max]] (2005) ''Born to Lead - Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ

==External links==
*[http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/7141.html Cricinfo: Warden Prentice]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|title=[[Australia rugby union captains|Australian national rugby union captain]]|before=[[Sydney Middleton]]|after=[[Ted Fahey]]|years=1912}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prentice, Ward}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian cricketers]]
[[Category:New South Wales cricketers]]
[[Category:Australian rugby union players]]
[[Category:Australia national rugby union team captains]]
[[Category:Australia international rugby union players]]
[[Category:Australian rugby league players]]
[[Category:Western Suburbs Magpies players]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Sydney]]
[[Category:Rugby league players from Sydney]]
[[Category:Wicket-keepers]]
[[Category:Rugby union fly-halves]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from Sydney]]
[[Category:Eastern Suburbs RUFC players]]
[[Category:West Harbour RFC players]]
[[Category:New South Wales rugby union team players]]
[[Category:Footballers who switched code]]
[[Category:Rugby league five-eighths]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]

Ward Prentice - Revision history

imported>Sully198787 at 08:12, 22 May 2025