David 'Dai' Henry Lewis (4 December 1866 - 8 September 1943) 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 peop ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

forward who played club rugby for

Canton RFC Canton Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the district of Canton, in Cardiff, South Wales. The club plays their home games at Lawrenny Avenue, located off Leckwith Road, Cardiff. Canton Rugby Football Club commenced playing in 1876 ...

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and international rugby for

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

. After his career as a football player he was active as a racing cyclist in the United States.

Rugby career

Lewis was first capped for Wales whilst playing for Cardiff. He was selected for

Charlie Newman Charlie Newman (28 February 1857 – 28 September 1922) was a Welsh international three-quarter who played club rugby for Newport. He was awarded ten caps for Wales and captained the team on six occasions. An original member of the Newport squa ...

's Wales team to face England in the opening match of the

1886 Home Nations Championship The 1886 Home Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 2 January and 13 March 1886. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The 1886 Championship ...

. Lewis was one of four new caps brought into the Welsh pack, alongside fellow Cardiff team-mate George Young, Llanelli's Evan Roberts and Swansea's William Bowen. Wales lost the match narrowly, but the selectors kept faith with Lewis for the next game against Scotland. The Scotland game, played at the Cardiff Arms Park, is noted for being the first international game to see a team use the four threequarter system. With Newman unavailable, the captaincy was passed to

Frank Hancock Francis Escott "Frank" Hancock (7 February 1859 – 29 October 1943) was an English-born rugby union centre who played club rugby for Somerset and Cardiff and international rugby for Wales. Hancock is best known as being the sport's first fourth ...

, the Cardiff centre known for introducing the new back formation at club level. With six Cardiff players in the team, including Lewis, it was seen as a good time to experiment the system at international level. The experiment was seen as a failure and was abandoned with disastrous effect halfway through the match. Wales lost the match and Lewis was not selected for his country again.

International games played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 468. * 1886 * 1886

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Dai (rugby player) 1866 births 1943 deaths Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Cardiff Cardiff RFC players Canton RFC players