Green Vigo
[1]Green Gregory Vigo (born c.1950)[2] is a South African former rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Proteas, and at club level for Saldanha Tigers, as a centre, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Other Nationalities, and at club level for Wigan, Swinton and Oldham, as a wing.
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | c.1950 South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rugby league | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: RLP |
Rugby union
Vigo started his career in rugby union, playing for Saldanha Tigers. He also represented the Proteas in their 1972 tour to the United Kingdom,[3] playing as a centre.
Rugby league
In 1973, Vigo switched codes from rugby union to rugby league when he joined the English rugby league club; Wigan.[4] Vigo played 168 first team games for Wigan, scoring 86 tries, before being sold to Swinton in 1980 for a fee of £15,000.[3] Vigo also went on to play for Oldham.
Vigo played right wing in Wigan's 19–9 victory over Salford in the 1973–74 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1973–74 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington, on Saturday 13 October 1973,[5] and played right wing in the 13–16 defeat by Workington Town in the 1977–78 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1977–78 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington, on Saturday 29 October 1977.
In August 1976, Vigo scored seven tries in a 37–5 win against St Helens in the Lancashire Cup,[6] a record for most tries scored in a derby match between Wigan and St Helens.[7]
At representative level, he appeared for the Other Nationalities rugby league team while at Wigan.
In June 1978, he was named in the inaugural Open Rugby World XIII.
References
- RL Record Keepers' Club
- "Green without gold: The Green Vigo story". Research Gate. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
- Snyders, Hendrik (2010). "Between the Springbok and Ikhamanga: The untold story of South Africa's Black rugby Exiles". Impumelelo Interdisciplinary Electronic Journal of African Sport. 5. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- "Rugby's freedom fighters". 30 July 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- "1973-1974 Lancashire Cup Final". wigan.rlfans.com. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- "Wigan 37 St Helens 5". www.cherryandwhite.co.uk. RLFANS.COM. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- "A brief history of the derby". Wigan Warriors. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.