4. Prince Alexander Obolensky (19 years, 321 days) – 1936
The Prince, son of an officer in Tsar Nicholas’s Imperial Horse Guard, was sent to Britain as a toddler to escape the Revolution. The soon-to-be war hero – with the bright corn-stoop hair and smile to match on the right-wing, agot the 70,000 strong to its feet by nervelessly showing New Zealand a clean pair of heels for England’s opening try at his right corner flag. He then doubled his tally in the second-half.
When the call to war came, Obolensky joined the RAF. His lifestyle perhaps drew him to the dashing pilot image, but further to this, a desire for his adopted country to avoid the fate of his native one must have been a driving force. His life would reach a tragic end on March 29th, 1940, when his Hurricane L1946 overshot the runway during a training accident at Martlesham Heath. He was 24 years old.
3. Steve Hanley (19 years, 304 days) – 1999
Hanley was one of two Sale players to make their international debut in England’s final match of their 1999 Five Nations campaign along with Barrie-Jon Mather. Although Hanley scored a try, this proved to be his only ever international appearance despite a stellar club career with Sale Sharks.