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Reginald Oscar
Schwarz, more commonly known as ‘Reggie’, was born in Lee,
London
on May 4th 1875. Educated at
St Paul
’s and Christ’s College,
Cambridge
, he excelled at sport being particularly adept on the
Rugby
and Cricket pitches. Whilst an undergraduate he played in one Varsity match,
gaining his blue on December 13th 1893 at the Queens Club. During an
open, exhilarating game Schwarz made several runs from his preferred position of
halfback, harrying around the fringe of the scrum where possible, as recorded in
the Times “Oxford heeled the ball out, but before any of their side could hold
it Schwarz raced up”. Although the
Cambridge
pack played well and their backs were equally resolute in defense, they lacked
spirit in attack and the match went
Oxford
’s way by one try to nil.
Playing his club
rugby for
Richmond
as well as Middlesex after Cambridge Schwarz’s representative career now took
a dip for several seasons. It was not until April 10th 1897 that he
was selected to play for the Barbarians against Hartlepool Rovers in a fourteen
points to nine victory. It was then another two years before he again wore the
famous black and white hoops as the Barbarians romped home to a thirty three
points to nil win against Stade Francais on February 15th 1899. It
was at about this time that he first caught the eye of the English selectors and
was picked for his international debut against
Scotland
in a match played on March 11th 1899 at the Rectory Field, the home
of Blackheath. It was a disastrous season for
England
, who had already lost to both
Wales
and
Ireland
. Many thought this was due to England’s apparent desire to emulate Welsh back
play to the detriment of their pack, a recipe for disaster when facing the agile
Scottish forwards who were quick to break. “Schwarz… was mostly engaged in stopping rushes” noted the
Times as
Scotland
enjoyed the majority of the ball as they won by five points to nil also
consigning
England
to the wooden spoon.
The 1900 season
again saw Schwarz in the international wilderness, although he was recalled the
following year on January 5th 1901 to play
Wales
at
Cardiff
. The English pack shone in this game and if their backs could have made
something of their chances the result may have been very different. The thirteen
to nil score line in
Wales
’ favor was not representative of the play. Possession had been roughly equal
and the match could have gone either way with ten minutes to play, but it was a
loss non the less.
Schwarz retained
his place in the
England
side for their next match against
Ireland
on February 9th at
Lansdowne Road
in
Dublin
. Although
England
upped their game and played better than they had against the Welsh, this match
was also lost by ten points to six. The result was generally deemed to be a fair
one. The English backs played well, but poor passing let them down. Although
fast and furious the game was generally disappointing with bad temper flaring
from both sides at times. The deciding factors were the Irish pack, who were
full of energy, and the superb showing of the Irish halves who were both lively
in attack and resourceful in defense and outshone the English halves.
England
again received the very dubious honor of the wooden spoon this season. After
this match Schwarz was never selected to play rugby for his country again,
although he did rejoin the Barbarians for their Easter tour to Wales that year
playing a further two matches for the club, losing nine points to three to
Newport on April 3rd 1901 and drawing six points all with Cardiff two
days later.
As well as his
exploits on the rugby pitch Schwarz had also continued with his love of cricket.
After playing for Oxfordshire in the closing years of the nineteenth century he
moved to the
Middlesex
County
side for the 1901-1902 seasons. After emigrating to
South Africa
he played for the
Transvaal
, interspersed with his work as personal secretary to Sir Abe Bailey, a notable
diamond tycoon and politician. It was in South Africa that Schwarz began to
truly make his mark as a cricketer, although ironically it was when he returned
to Britain with the touring South African sides of 1904 and 1907 that he became
regarded as one of the great bowlers of his era and was named Wisden cricketer
of the year in 1908, topping the bowling averages with his expertise in the
googly. In total he won twenty caps for
South Africa
at cricket, retiring from serious participation at the end of the 1912 season.
With the outbreak
of war in 1914 Schwarz soon enlisted initially serving in the campaign is German
South West
Africa
. Such was the superiority of the South African forces that its result was never
in any realistic doubt with German settlers being interned in prison camps.
Those Germans who remained at large along with Afrikaner volunteers could offer
little more than token resistance during the doomed Maritz rebellion against the
pro British South African government. Non the less Schwarz served with
distinction during the campaign and was mentioned in dispatches for his part in
it. Schwarz, along with many other members of the South African armed forces
next travelled to
Europe
and the battlefields of the Western Front, in Schwarz’s case joining the
sixth battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. Again Schwarz served with
distinction. By the end of the war he had attained the rank of Major and been
awarded the Military Cross. More latterly in the war he served in a number of
staff positions, surviving the horrors of battle to see the armistice.
Sources
"The
Complete Who's Who of England Rugby Union Internationals", R Maule,
Breedon 1992
The
Times Online Digital Archive
Wikepedia
www.1914-1918.net
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The
Rugby History Society