George Frederick Harding JP (1858 – 8 July 1927) 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 international

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 ...

player who played club rugby for Newport 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 ...

. Harding was a member of the very first Wales international team that faced England in 1881.

Rugby career

Harding first played rugby for Newport in 1877 during the founding years of the club. Harding‘S first international cap for Wales was also the very first international game in which Wales had competed. Played at

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

in 1881, the Welsh team were humiliated in a crushing defeat to a far more organised and prepared English team.Smith (1980), pg 40. Harding was reselected for the very next Welsh game, one of only four players to keep their place, the others being

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 ...

, Frank Purdon and

William David Phillips William David Phillips (16 August 1855 – 15 October 1918) 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 ...

. Played away from home at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

against Ireland and under the captaincy of Charles Lewis, Wales won the game two goals and two tries to nil. Harding played in the next two matches for Wales, a second loss to England, and the first ever game against Scotland, which also ended in a loss. Harding's brother

Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

also played for Newport and also represented Wales at international level.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union)Smith (1980), pg 466. * 1881, 1882 * 1882 * 1883

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, George Frederick 1858 births 1927 deaths Monmouthshire cricketers Newport RFC players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Chorlton-cum-Hardy Wales international rugby union players Welsh cricketers Welsh rugby union players Rugby union players from Newport, Wales