Harry Vaughan Watkins (10 September 1875 – 16 May 1945)
Scrum.com was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

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 ...

player who played club rugby for

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

and gained six caps for the

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

national team. Watkins also played cricket and hockey for Carmarthenshire.

Rugby career

Watkins began his rugby career with Carmarthenshire-based team

Llandovery Llandovery (; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 road, A40 and A483 road, A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and w ...

, and during the 1898/99 season was captain of the senior XV.Jenkins (1991), pg 162. By the time he was first selected to play for the Wales national team, he had switched club to Llanelli, at the time one of the most prominent Welsh clubs. His first international game was against Scotland, in the second Wales game of the

1904 Home Nations Championship The 1904 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-second series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 9 January and 19 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Results ...

. After a draw in the opening match to England, the Welsh selectors had brought in five new caps, four among the pack, for the Scottish encounter. Wales won 21–3, with the Welsh backs scoring heavily thanks to the sustained possession achieved by Watkins and the rest of the forward players. Watkins was then reselected for the final Wales game of the tournament, an away match at the Balmoral Showgrounds against Ireland. Wales lost the match by two points, with complaints for the loss being directed at poor refereeing decisions. In the 1904/05 season Watkins was given the captaincy of Llanelli, and retained his position in the Wales team, playing in all three matches of the Triple Crown winning 1905 Championship. The opening game of the series was against England, played 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 ...

. Wales dominated from the start of the match and scored seven tries, two of which were scored by Welsh forwards,

Arthur Harding Arthur Flowers Harding (8 August 1878 – 15 May 1947) was an English-born international rugby union player who played for and captained the Welsh national rugby union team, Wales national team. Often called 'Boxer' Harding, he was a member of ...

and Watkins himself. This try was Watkins only international points. The next two matches saw an away victory over Scotland and a home win over Ireland. The 1905 winning team is still recognised as one of the strongest Welsh teams in history, centred on a formidable pack. With Wales dominating the Home Nations, the next game was to be the historic encounter with

the Original All Blacks The Original All Blacks (also known simply as "The Originals") were the first New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand national rugby union team to tour outside Australasia. They toured the British Isles, France and the United State ...

, New Zealand's first touring team. Despite being available for the opening game of the

1906 Home Nations Championship The 1906 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 13 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The 1906 Championshi ...

less than a month later, Watkins was not selected for the 'Match of the Century', which saw Wales narrowly beat the All Blacks. Wales changed their pack formation to counter the New Zealand tactics, and the Welsh selectors brought in Charlie and

Cliff Pritchard Cliff Pritchard (1881–1954) was a Welsh international centre who played club rugby for Newport RFC and Pontypool RFC. Pritchard was capped on five occasions and scored two tries for his country. He is best known as one of the Welsh squad that b ...

at the expense of Watkins and Cardiff's Billy O'Neill. Watkins played his final Wales international against England in January 1906. With his international career now behind him, Watkins played in one final showcase match in Wales, when he was part of the Llanelli team to face the touring South Africans of 1906. Played on 29 December at

Stradey Park Stradey Park (Welsh: ''Parc y Strade'') was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of ...

and led by 'Danny' Walters, Llanelli played an exciting encounter against the Springboks, but lost 16–3. Before the outbreak of World War I, Watkins left Wales for Canada, and while there played rugby for Victoria in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

; and in November 1913 he captained the Victoria team against a touring New Zealand.

International games played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 473. * 1905, 1906 *

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

1904, 1905 * 1904, 1905

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Harry Vaughan 1875 births 1945 deaths Carmarthenshire cricketers Llanelli RFC players London Welsh RFC players People from Brecknockshire Sportspeople from Powys Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Powys Wales international rugby union players Welsh cricketers Welsh rugby union players