Reginald Arthur Gibbs (7 May 1882 – 28 November 1938) was a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
international
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
wing who played club rugby for
Penarth
Penarth (, ) is a town and community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay.
Penarth is a wealthy seaside resort ...
and
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
. He was capped 16 times for his country and captained his team on one occasion. Gibbs is one of five Welsh players to have scored four tries in a single game.
International career
Gibbs was first capped for his country in a game against Scotland on 3 February 1906. Wales won the game 9-3, but were completely outplayed by Scotland; the main reason for the Scottish defeat was Gibbs impressive display as a 'rover'. His work with
Billy Trew
Billy Trew (1 July 1878 – 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 the key players of the first Golden Age of ...
turned the minimal possession Wales had into the three tries the team scored on the day.
[Parry-Jones (1999), pg 167.]
In total Gibbs scored 17 tries for his country, establishing a Welsh record which stood until
Gareth Edwards
Sir Gareth Owen Edwards CBE (born 12 July 1947) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to don a Welsh jersey".
In 2003, in a poll of international ...
broke it in 1976. In his final season, 1911, Gibbs scored five tries as Wales won the
Triple Crown
Triple Crown may refer to:
Sports Horse racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States)
** Triple Crown Trophy
** Triple Crown Productions
* Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
* T ...
and
Grand Slam, their last such success for 39 years. He captained Wales once, against Ireland at Lansdowne Road in 1910, scoring a try and leading Wales to 19-3 victory. Gibbs toured
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...
as part of the
Arthur Harding's Anglo-Welsh team of 1908. In the 1908 tour, Gibbs played two of the tests and scored the only try for the tourists in the first test.
International matches played
Wales
[Smith (1980), pg 466.]
* 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911
* 1908, 1910, 1911
* 1906, 1908, 1910, 1911
* 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911
British Isles
*
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
1908, 1908
Cricket
Gibbs was a keen amateur
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
er and played
minor counties cricket
The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes un ...
for
Glamorgan prior to their elevation to
first-class status, making 31 appearances in the
Minor Counties Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket 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 cou ...
between 1902–14.
Bibliography
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Reggie
1882 births
1938 deaths
Welsh rugby union players
Rugby union players from Cardiff
Rugby union wings
Wales rugby union captains
Cardiff RFC players
Penarth RFC players
Barbarian F.C. players
Wales international rugby union players
Welsh businesspeople in shipping
People educated at Queen's College, Taunton
Glamorgan County RFC players
Welsh cricketers
Glamorgan cricketers
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales
20th-century Welsh businesspeople