page_title: J. F. Byrne
section_title: International rugby
hierarchical_section_title: J. F. Byrne / International rugby
context_page_description: James Frederick Byrne was a sportsman who captained Warwickshire at first-class cricket and was capped in rugby for both England and the British and Irish Lions.
context_section_description: A full-back, Byrne played his initial rugby with Moseley, whom he captained. He had a safe pair of hands, considerable pace, could punt the ball long as was solid in defence. Often used as a place-kicker, Byrne was able to put the ball through the posts from the half-way mark of the ground.
  Byrne appeared in 17 Test matches, 13 of them for England and the other four with the British Lions. His first cap was awarded in 1894 and his last in 1899, by which time he had accumulated 36 Test points.
  He took part in the 1896 British Lions tour to South Africa and played in all 21 games. The squad was dominated by Irish players and Byrne was the only England international. He scored 127 points all up and became the first player to top 100 points in a tour of South Africa. This record wasn't broken until the All-Blacks visited South Africa in 1960, by Don Clarke, who was incidentally also a first-class cricketer.
  Byrne was England's captain in the 1898 Home Nations Championship, which included a draw against Scotland and a win over Wales.
caption: Byrne caricature on postcard
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