The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby.
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since.
Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as The Whites, in reference to their home kit colours.
Glamorgan Wanderers are a Welsh rugby union club based in Ely, west Cardiff in Wales. The club is located just to the north of Western Cemetery. They currently play in the WRU Admiral Championship. Glamorgan Wanderers began as the Old Monktonians, formed by ex-pupils of Monkton House School in 1893. In 1913 the team changed their name to Glamorgan Wanderers to reflect the wider intake of their membership. The club played rugby on seven different grounds in the earlier years, including former Cardiff RFC ground Sophia Gardens and Llandaff RFC's pitch Bishop's Field, until they were able to purchase their present ground in 1951. The ground was purchased via various fund raising appeals and is named the Memorial Ground in honour of former players who had died in the two World Wars.
Edward Llewellyn Treharne was a Welsh rugby union forward who played club rugby for Pontypridd and Cardiff, and international rugby for Wales. He was a member of the first Wales international team that played England in 1881. At the time of the game he was still a student at Cowbridge, and later became a medical student at St Bartholomew's Hospital.
Bathurst Bellers Mann was an Irish-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff and international rugby for Wales. He won a single cap for Wales, in the country's first international match.
Theophilus Aneurin Rees was a Welsh rugby union forward who represented Llandovery College at club level. He was capped once for Wales, in the country's very first international rugby match.
Frank Thomas Purdon was an Irish-born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and Swansea. Purdon was capped four times for Wales including the first Wales international, against England in 1881.
William David Phillips was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff Rugby Football Club and international rugby for Wales. He won five caps for Wales and would later become a central figure in the early history of the Welsh Rugby Union.
Richard Mullock was a Welsh sporting administrator and official, who is most notable for organising the first Welsh rugby union international game and was instrumental in the creation of the Welsh Football Union, which became the Welsh Rugby Union in 1934. Mullock came from an Anglo-Irish family; his family's firm in Wales, Henry Mullock & Son, was a printers based on Commercial Street in Newport, South Wales.
Edward Vernon Pegge was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Neath Rugby Football Club, international rugby for Wales and later became a vice-president of the Welsh Rugby Union. Pegge had an eccentric personality that made him a stand-out character of early Welsh rugby.
Samuel Simmonds Clark was an English-born rugby union official and international rugby union full-back who played club rugby for Neath. Clark was the first Neath player to win an international cap for Wales while representing the club; and played in the second Welsh international match in 1882.
The 1880–81 Home Nations rugby union matches were a series of international rugby union friendlies held between the England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales national rugby union teams. This season is most notable for the introduction of Wales as an international rugby union nation, playing their first ever match in a game against England. Although Wales were humiliated by a crushing defeat it did not stop rugby union being adopted by Wales as the country's national sport.
Edward Peake was a Wales international rugby union three-quarter and county cricketer. Educated at Oriel College, Oxford, Peake would win a Blue for cricket before representing Gloucestershire. Peake is most notable for being a member of the first Wales rugby union team that played England in 1881. In his later life he became a teacher and Anglican minister.
Richard Henry Bowlas Summers was a Welsh rugby union fullback who played club rugby for Haverfordwest and international rugby for Wales. Summers was a member of the very first Wales international team, that faced England in 1881.
Godfrey Darbishire was an English-born rugby union forward who represented Bangor at club level and played international rugby for Wales, gaining one cap in the country's very first international rugby match.
Barry Edward Girling was an English-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff and international rugby for Wales. He won a single cap for Wales, in the country's first international match.
Edward John Lewis was a Welsh medical doctor and international rugby union half-back who played club rugby for Llandovery College and international rugby for Wales. He won just a single game for Wales when he was selected for the first Welsh rugby international.
Denys Douglas Dobson was an English international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Oxford University and Newton Abbot. Dobson played international rugby for England and the British Isles team on its 1904 tour of Australia. Dobson was the first player from a British touring rugby team to be dismissed from the playing field, when he was sent off in a match against the Northern District in Newcastle, New South Wales.
Harry Vaughan Watkins was a Welsh rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli and London Welsh and gained six caps for the Wales national team. Watkins also played cricket and hockey for Carmarthenshire.
England 1881