This is one of a series of posts to mark the international Rugby players who served in, and survived, The Great War. If anyone has further information on the men concerned, I’d be most grateful if it could be added to the thread. Gareth Holland, David played for England Internationals: 3 : 1912 W+ I+ S- (1t) David Holland was born in 1886, in Gloucester Played as a Forward for: Devonport Albion, Gloucester Profession: Royal Navy/Licensee War service: HMS Colossus Remarks: Joined the Rugby League (Oldham RLFC) in 1912. He died on 7 March 1945, in Gloucester
Here are the dates of his four appearances for Great Britain. 1 1914 Jun 27th Australia W 23 - 5 Front Row 1t 2 1914 Jun 29th Australia L 7 - 12 Second Row 3 1914 Jul 4th Australia W 14 - 6 Second Row 4 1914 Aug 1st New Zealand W 16 - 13 Front Row He was part of the 1914 tour party to Australia and scored a try on his debut in the first 'Ashes' Test at the Royal Agricultural Ground in Sydney. The three Tests were all played in the space of seven days. GB, or England as they were known despite having nine Welshmen in their squad, won the first game, lost two days later and then came out on top in incredible circumstances to win the third. The final Test became known as the 'Rorke's Drift Test' because the British team ended up with only 10 men because of injuries. Holland played in all three games and played a key role in securing the 14-6 win in the third game at Sydney Cricket Ground. He played 81 times for Oldham between 1913 and 1921, scoring 19 tries. During his time at the club they won the Lancashire Cup in 1919 and were runners-up in 1921.
