Edward John Richard Thomas (14 October 1880 – 7 July 1916) was a Welsh international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

back who played club rugby for

Mountain Ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also

* Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, a town ...

Early life

He was educated at Ferndale Board School, Glamorganshire. He joined the Glamorganshire Constabulary in November 1904, and was posted to Mountain Ash, remaining there until the start of the First World War. Dick Thomas

Rugby career

Thomas first played rugby for local

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

clubs, Ferndale and

Penygraig Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas, Edmondstown, Penrhiwfer and Williamstown. Penygraig is wi ...

before moving to Mountain Ash, the team he would captain during the 1904/05 season. He faced his first international opposition when he was chosen to represent

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, an invitational county team that faced the touring South Africans in 1906. Glamorgan played well but lost 6-3 though if Bert Winfield had completed his kicks the Welsh would have won. Thomas would gain his first cap later that year, when a Welsh team was formed to face the same South African team. Thomas, along with the other newly capped players, John Dyke and John Jenkins were judged not to show great ability, but were far superior to the other non-capped players available.Billot (1974), p. 37. Wales lost the game, which saw the end of many great Welsh players. From 1906 to 1907, Thomas was incapacitated due to appendicitis, but he returned to first-class rugby after his appendix was removed. Unlike Dyke and Jenkins, Thomas was reselected for his country again, but he needed to wait until the 1908 Home Nations Championship, when he was chosen to face France at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

. Under the captaincy of

Teddy Morgan Edward Morgan (22 May 1880 – 1 September 1949) was a Welsh international rugby union player. He was a member of the victorious Wales team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks in the famous '' Match of the Century'' and is remembered for scorin ...

Wales were victorious, as they were two weeks later when Thomas won his third cap against Ireland in Belfast. Thomas's last game was the following year in a match against Scotland.

Billy Trew William James Trew, better known as Billy Trew (12 March 1879 – 20 August 1926) was a Welsh international centre, outside half and wing who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Football Club. He won 29 caps for Wales and is seen as one of t ...

not only led the team but scored the winning try which Jack Bancroft converted.

International appearances

Military service

At the start of the First World War, Thomas was in the Welsh constabulary, and was unable to stand down from his police duties and until 16 January 1915, when he enlisted in the 16th Battalion Welsh Regiment. He was in training with his regiment at Colwyn Bay until August, being rapidly promoted, in the meantime, to Company Sergeant Major by March. The Welsh Division was deployed to the Western Front in December 1915. He was killed in action, shot through the head, in the taking of Mametz Wood on 7 July 1916. He is commemorated at the

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It is near the ...

.Rugby Heroes who went to War

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

Matthew Ferris, November 2008 Another Welsh international died in the same military action, winger Johnny Williams.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Dick 1880 births 1916 deaths Bridgend RFC players Glamorgan Police officers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Ferndale RFC players Glamorgan County RFC players Glamorgan Police RFC players Monmouthshire County RFC players Mountain Ash RFC players Penygraig RFC players Royal Welch Fusiliers officers Wales international rugby union players Welsh police officers Welsh rugby union players Welsh military personnel