Article by John Manenti
There are sometimes some Stories of Sport, as of the World of Entertainment, so extraordinary and exciting that to make them epic they need to end in a tragic wayeven better if at a young age, given that, as the “Maestrone“Francesco Guccini,”Heroes are all young and beautiful…”, even if the protagonist of our today’s story did not die a hero, even if, perhaps, he could have become one, but fate decided otherwise …
He is of noble blood, Alexander Obolensky, when he was born on February 17, 1916 in Petrograd – the current St. Petersburg which assumed that name by the will of Tsar Nicholas II at the beginning of September 1914 to keep it for a decade – son of Prince Sergei ObolenskyOfficer of the Tsarist Guards on horseback, who, at the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, takes refuge with his family in England.
His lineage allows the young Alexander to attend the best schools in the United Kingdom and, after graduating from the “Trent College” of Long Eaton, Derbyshire, enrolled at the prestigious 18-year-old University of Oxford, where in 1938 he graduated in the Faculty of Philosophy, Politics and Economicsbut, in the meantime, he doesn’t disdain to practice Rugby, where he plays the role of wing back …
And, undoubtedly, the Prince knows how to do it, given that, in addition to playing in 6 years of activity (from 1934 to 1939) for the Nottingham, Rosslyn Park and Leicester Tigers clubs, he is part of the representative of the University of Oxford of which he wears the colors on 44 occasions, scoring 88 points (considering that at the time a try was worth just 3 points…), which brought him to the attention of the English Federation Managers…
At the beginning of 1936, England was in fact called upon to host, on January 4 in Twickenham, New Zealand for a test match during the third Tour in the history of the “legendary” All Blacks in the UK, having been on the two previous occasions defeat 0-15 at the beginning of September 1905 at the “Crystal Palace” and much less clearly (11-17) on January 3, 1925which is why there would be every interest in fielding the talented Russian-born player, even though he is now English by adoption, even if there are not a few who “twist your mouth” at the moment in which the presence of the not yet 20-year-old Obolensky is made official, considered the well-known native mentality of English subjects.
A perplexity that does not even neglect the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VIIIwho in the ceremonial before the meeting asks the “Principe” Obolensky in what capacity he represented England, getting one of the best responses he could receive, namely “I study in Oxford, sir…!!”, also knowing in his heart that much more was needed to convince the skeptics about its use …
And, in every self-respecting sporting discipline, there is only one way to demonstrate it, that is on the playing field and it takes little to make the over 70,000 present in the stands of the London Stadium fall in love with it, that is to say first by recovering the oval well beyond his own half of the field and flying away in a solitary escape along the right out vainly chased by his opponents to go and deposit it in goal and then, shortly after, with an even more extraordinary action as, ball received on the right just beyond the 22-metre line, crosses the entire area diagonally twice as fast as the New Zealand players to score a second try on the opposite side.
For many insiders, they they can easily be placed among the best goals achieved in the history of the XV della Rosa and, perhaps also because of the clamor aroused by such a feat – with England who, for the record, won the match 13-0, a victory they will repeat against the All Blacks only 37 years later – here they are to Alexander Obolensky is granted British citizenship the following Marchhaving also been confirmed for the Tournament called at the time “Home Championship” (since from 1932 to 1939 France did not participate in the “5 Nations” …) also finished in third place with a victory over Scotland, a draw with Wales and a defeat against Ireland …
The performances of the blond three-quarter winger from the East are also used by the Barbarians, Invitational Selection with no nationality constraints, although at the time only players from the United Kingdom were chosenwith which Obolensky made his debut on March 4, 1937 netting a try in a 13-3 defeat against an East Midlands selectionto then take revenge exactly 12 months later with an 8-7 success and then play three more matches in 1938, going in for a try in mid-April in an 8-0 win over Penarth and at the end of December in the 6-8 defeat curiously against the Leicester Tigers, collecting a total of 7 appearances with 9 points to his credit.
Despite that appearances for the England national team are limited to the aforementioned four occasionsalthough given the still young age, other possibilities could not have been missing, but the “Winds of War” blowing on the Old Continent also involve the now British citizen who, in fact he enlists in the RAF (Royal Air Force), or the English aviation, being assigned to the 54th squadron with which his atrocious, mocking destiny is fulfilled …
Indeed, it happens that on 29 March 1940, the day after Obolensky received the news that he had been called up to the national team for a match against Wales – which then did not take place due to the war events – the same takes the lead of his “Hawker Hurricane Mark 1” for a training flight, but upon return to base at the “Martlesham Heath Airport” in Suffolk County, sbaglia maneuvers past the runway so as to end up in a cliff and the consequent impact causes him to break his cervical vertebraedying instantly aged just 24 years and 41 days.
And so, after having avoided the drama of the Russian Revolution and the eventual possible involvement in the Second World War in the ranks of the Soviet Armies, Alexander Obolensky, il “Principe”, he finds his end by serving his adopted homeland in which he leaves the memory of two splendid goals in the first, “historic” success against the All Blacks …
Definitely not enough to call him a Hero, but”young and beautiful” for sure …