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29 unusual facts about Cardiff RFC


Alexander Bland

Alexander "Alec" Frederick Bland (24 November 1866 – 18 October 1947) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff.

Archie Skym

Archie Skym (12 July 1906-15 June 1970) was an international rugby union player for Wales and played club rugby for Llanelli and Cardiff.

Arthur Emyr

A winger, he played club rugby for Swansea RFC where he remains the club's all-time record try-scorer and also for Cardiff RFC.

Buckley Roderick

Played under the captaincy of Joe Simpson the team was made up of mainly Cardiff, Newport and Swansea players, Roderick being the sole representative from Llanelli.

Charles Lynn Davies

Charles Lynn 'Cowboy' Davies (born 30 December 1929) was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for several clubs including Llanelli and Cardiff.

Chum Ochse

Ochse's next two matches were against two Welsh teams, Cardiff and Llanelli.

Cowboy Saunders

The South Africans won the opener and the two games that followed, for which Saunders was rested, before facing two Welsh teams in succession, Cardiff and Llanelli.

Emyr Lewis

A flanker, he played his club rugby for Cardiff RFC, but played his best rugby for Llanelli RFC and Carmarthen Athletic.

Evan Richards

Richards would captain Swansea in the 1887/88 season, and during 1888, he refereed two matches in the New Zealand Māori's tour of Europe; the matches against Welsh clubs, Cardiff and Newport.

Frederick Nicholls

Under the captaincy of Welsh rugby legend Arthur 'Monkey' Gould, Nicholls came in at threequarters on the opposite wing to Cardiff RFC, stalwart Norman Biggs as a replacement for William McCutcheon.

George Avery Young

His first major club was Cardiff, and while serving with the 'Blues' he was selected to represent Wales in the country's opening game of the 1886 Home Nations Championship, against England.

Harry Bowen

After losing to England in the first game of the 1886 tournament, Wales and Cardiff captain Frank Hancock famously decided to trial the four three-quarter system.

Harry Vaughan Watkins

Wales changed their pack formation to counter the New Zealand tactics, and the Welsh selectors brought in Charlie and Cliff Pritchard at the expense of Watkins and Cardiff's Billy O'Neill.

Haydn Morris

Morris joined Cardiff from his home club Mountain Ash, playing on the left wing.

Huw Richards

Neath were a rising force in Welsh rugby in the 1980s, finishing as runners up in the 1984 Welsh Cup final against Cardiff.

Johnny Buchler

He played in the win over Cardiff on 20 October 1951 and after missing two games he was back in the squad to face a combined Glasgow and Edinburgh side.

Leigh Davies

He played rugby for various clubs including stints at Neath RFC, Cardiff RFC, Bristol RFC, Llanelli RFC.

Lyndon Mustoe

Mustoe represented several Welsh club sides throughout his playing career, including Chepstow, Newport, Pontypool, Cardiff and Bridgend.

Martyn Burridge

He has played for numerous clubs around Wales most notably Cardiff RFC, Pontypool, Abertillery, Tredegar, Merthyr and Bridgend.

Martyn Jordan

When London Welsh took part in their first tour of South Wales, the team took in Swansea, Cardiff, Newport and a South Wales XV over a six-day period.

Martyn Williams

Williams played club rugby for Pontypridd, with whom he won the 1996-97 Welsh league, then moved to Cardiff RFC in 1999.

Nigel Walker

In 1992 however, he failed to make the squad for the 1992 Summer Olympics and turned to rugby union, where he played on the wing for Cardiff RFC.

Parc y Scarlets

Parc y Scarlets officially opened on 15 November to Llanelli RFC who played the first match at the stadium in a 32–3 win over Cardiff RFC in the Principality Premiership.

Penzance RFC

It is considered a great honour to be invited to play for the Barbarians and in 1908 Barrie Bennetts was invited to join the annual tour to South Wales playing against Penarth and Cardiff.

Ralph Sweet-Escott

Ralph Bond Sweet-Escott (11 January 1869 – 11 November 1907) was an English-born international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Cardiff and was capped three times for Wales.

Richard Summers

It is believed that Summers came to the attention of Mullock as both Cowbridge Grammar and Cheltenham College were on the same fixture list as Cardiff, whose players Mullock was in contact with.

Ronnie Boon

Ronald Winston "Ronnie" Boon (11 June 1909 – 3 August 1998) was an international rugby union wing for Wales who played club rugby for Cardiff.

Terry Holmes

Holmes joined the Cardiff Youth side at the age of sixteen and went on to play for the senior side for ten seasons.

Tom Slater

Tom Slater (born 11 October 1986) is a Welsh rugby union footballer currently playing for Welsh Premier Division side Cardiff RFC.


Albert Burge

Two weeks after the Wales match, Burge was part of the Australian team that faced Cardiff, and was again sent from the pitch by referee Gil Evans after 'brutally' kicking Dai Westacott while the player was prone on the ground.

Froude Hancock

Hancock went on several Easter tours with the Barbarians, scoring a try against Norman Biggs' Cardiff team in 1893.

Maurice Turnbull

His father, Philip, was a Welsh international hockey player, winning a bronze medal with the Welsh team at the 1908 Olympics, and six of his eight sons, including Maurice, played for Cardiff Rugby Club.

Nathan Brew

He made his comeback appearance on 8 February 2003 against Bedwas RFC, again in the WRU Challenge Cup, and followed this up by scoring a try in a Welsh Premier Division match against Cardiff RFC on 25 April.

Penarth RFC

This fixture marked the start of the "Baa-Baas" annual South Wales tour from their "spiritual home" of Penarth, which also encompassed playing Cardiff RFC on the Saturday, Swansea RFC on Easter Monday and Newport RFC on the Tuesday.

Richie Collins

Originally a police officer, he started playing club rugby for South Wales Police RFC, and later Newport RFC, Cardiff RFC, Pontypridd RFC (he also coached the team in 2000) and Bristol Rugby.