Rugby Career

Tarr spent the majority of his rugby career following university with Leicester,

Tigers, but he also appeared for club teams Headingley and Richmond F.C.

and also Midland Counties, some of which have commemorated him on

their war memorials.

In his rst season at university Tarr played for the ‘A’ team, which also

included another future England player Anthony Henniker-Gotley. He was

later selected for the senior team and gained three Blues from 1907 to 1909,

the rst in the 1907 Varsity Match on 10 December. Cambridge, with some

notable international players on the team, were the clear favourites on the

day. After they won the toss and elected to kick off with the wind behind

them, the majority of the rst 40 minutes was played in Oxford’s half, much

of it in their 25. Yet Cambridge failed to break through Oxford’s defence,

chiey that of the centres Vassall and Tarr. Just before half time, with a

scrum deep in Oxford’s half, Rupert Williamson fed George Cunningham.

The ball came to Tarr, who drew his opposite man, K. G. Macleod, and

timed his pass to Vassall so that he, in turn, drew the Cambridge left wing

near the half-way line and put H. Martin to run in a try from there. Oxford

went on to win 16–0.

With Oxford having won the Varsity Match in 1906 and 1907, the captain

Harold Hodges opted to stick with the winning three-quarter line for 1908,

which included the centre combination of Vassall and Tarr. The pair were

noted for their excellent ball handling skills, were quick around the eld, and