Richard Hellings (1 December 1874 – 9 February 1938) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born Welsh

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 it ...

forward who played international rugby for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and club rugby for

Llwynypia Llwynypia ( cy, Llwynypia ) is a village and community (and electoral ward) in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom betwee ...

. Hellings was noted for his strength built from years cutting coal as a

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coal mining, coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fa ...

miner.Wales team visit Big Pit
WRU featureSmith (1980), pg 108. Hellings later played rugby for

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 ...

, Exeter and Devon.Jenkins (1991), pg 71.

Rugby career

Tiverton born,Smith (1980), pg 33. Hellings moved to the Rhondda while a young boy and later found work as a coal miner in

, there Hellings joined local rugby team Llwynypia RFC. In the late 1890s an ageing and failing Welsh pack forced the selectors to look for options outside the likes of Newport and

. This saw the emergence of the 'Rhondda forward', manual workers chosen from the villages and towns of the south Wales valleys.Smith (1980), pg 92. In 1897 Hellings was chosen to face England as part of the

1897 Home Nations Championship The 1897 Home Nations Championship was the fifteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Four matches were played between 9 January and 13 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales only completed one ...

along with fellow Rhondda players, Jack Rhapps and Dai Evans. Under the captaincy of legendary Welsh player Arthur Gould Wales beat England by a goal and two tries to nil. Hellings was reselected for both matches of the

1898 Home Nations Championship The 1898 Home Nations Championship was the sixteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 5 February and 2 April. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For the second year ru ...

, this time under the captaincy of

Billy Bancroft William James Bancroft (2 March 1871 – 3 March 1959) was a Welsh international fullback, who played club rugby for Swansea, and a county cricketer for Glamorgan, for whom he was the first professional player in 1895. Bancroft was seen as o ...

. Wales won the first game against Ireland, but lost to England at Blackheath. Hellings missed the opening game of the 1889 Championship in which fellow Llwynypia player,

Willie Llewellyn William Morris "Willie" Llewellyn (1 January 1878 – 12 March 1973) was a Welsh international rugby union player. He captained Wales in 1905 and London Welsh in 1902. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Black ...

scored four tries on his Wales on his debut; but played in the final two games. The 1900 Championship saw Wales win 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 * Tri ...

for the second time by winning all three games. Hellings played in two of the victories, but his more notable match was the opening game against England. Played at Kingsholm, England played 13 new caps, a record that stood until 1947. Hellings scored his one and only international try during the game, made all the more memorable as Hellings had fractured his arm in the game before scoring.Smith (1980), pg 142. Hellings final two games for Wales game in

1901 Events January * January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minist ...

. There were hopes that Wales would retain the Triple Crown, but although beating England in the first game, the selectors felt the forwards, of which Hellings was given the role of leading, lacked cohesion in the tight.Griffiths (1987), pg 4:10. When Wales lost the next game to Scotland, Hellings was dropped and never represented Wales again.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 466. * 1897, 1898, 1900, 1901 * 1898, 1899, 1900 * 1899, 1901

Biography

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellings, Dick 1874 births 1938 deaths Cardiff RFC players English rugby union players Llwynypia RFC players People from Rhondda Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Tiverton, Devon Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Welsh miners