Ralph Bond Sweet-Escott (11 January 1869 – 11 November 1907) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

-born 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 ...

half back who played club rugby for

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and was capped three times for

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 ...

. Sweet-Escott also played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

for

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 ...

representing the county in the

Minor Counties Cricket Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

. His brother, Edward Sweet-Escott, was a notable cricketer for Glamorgan.Edward Sweet-Escott player profile
Glamorgan Cricket archive

Early life

Sweet-Escott was the third son to the Rev. William Sweet-Escott JP, of Hartrow Manor in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

and the daughter of Lord Dynevor. He was educated at King Henry VIII School in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, before being accepted into

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

Rugby career

Sweet-Escott was born in

Essington Essington is a village and civil parish in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England, northeast of the city of Wolverhampton. Nearby are the towns of Bloxwich and Cannock and the villages of Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley (Landywood ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, and played club rugby for

Blackheath F.C. Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham, in south-east London. The club was founded in Blackheath in 1858 and is the oldest open rugby club in continuous existence in the world. The Blackheath club also assi ...

before moving to

and joining first class Welsh club Cardiff. In 1891 he was first selected to represent the Welsh national team, in a match against Scotland as part of the Home Nations Championship. Under the captaincy of Llanelli's

Willie Thomas William Henry Thomas (22 March 1866 – 11 October 1921) was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli and London Welsh. He was capped 11 times for Wales and captained the team on two occasions. In 1888, Thoma ...

, Wales were heavily beaten with Scotland running in seven tries without reply. Sweet-Escott lost his place in the Welsh team for the next game, with the Welsh selectors switching from the Cardiff partnership of Sweet-Escott and Ingledew to the exciting Swansea brother duo of

Evan Evan is a Welsh language, Welsh masculine given name, derived from ''Iefan'', a Welsh form of the name John (name), John. Similar names that share this origin include Euan, Ivan (name), Ivan, Ian, and Juan. "John" itself is derived from the ancie ...

and

David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to: Performers *David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre *David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...

. In 1891, Sweet-Escott was chosen to represent the British invitational team, the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

. He continued his career with Cardiff, and after a lapse of three years regained favour with the Welsh selectors, regaining his position in the Wales squad, this time alongside Newport's Fred Parfitt. As part of the

1894 Home Nations Championship The 1894 Home Nations Championship was the 12th series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 6 January and 17 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Table Scoring system The mat ...

and this time led by

Frank Hill Frank Robert Hill (21 May 1906 – 28 August 1993) was a Scottish football player and manager. Playing career Forfar and Aberdeen Hill was born in Forfar and started his career at Forfar Athletic, joining the club in 1924. He moved to Aberdee ...

, Sweet-Escott found himself again on the losing side when Ireland won by a single penalty goal. Sweet-Escott's last game for Wales was another match against Ireland, in the following year's

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. In this, his final international, Sweet-Escott finished on the winning side.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 472. * 1894, 1895 * 1891

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Photo of a Blackheath team including Sweet-Escott

CricketArchive.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet-Escott, Ralph 1869 births 1907 deaths Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players Blackheath F.C. players Cardiff RFC players Glamorgan cricketers Penarth RFC players People educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry Rugby union halfbacks Rugby union players from Staffordshire Wales international rugby union players Welsh cricketers Welsh rugby union players