Howard Charles Warrender Nicholls (2 June 1931 – 2 March 2011)
Scrum.com 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 ...

player who at club level represented

Maesteg Maesteg is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translation of Mae ...

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

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 ...

. He gained just a single cap 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 ...

, awarded for facing Ireland in the

1958 Five Nations Championship The 1958 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-ninth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-fourth series of the northern hemisphere rugb ...

Personal history

Nicholls was born in Maesteg in 1931, and attended Maesteg Grammar, who he represented on the rugby field. He later attended Hereford Cathedral School, and played in the same school cricket team as future England international Peter Richardson. After leaving school, Nicholls returned to Wales, to begin a career with Lloyd's Bank. He later left banking to take over the family butchers from his father, Percy. He moved to Porthcawl in 1963 after marrying Jill Jones, whose father was ex-Wales international rugby player Arthur Hugh Jones. The couple had four children. A keen amateur photographer and birdwatcher, Nicholls was often published in various birding magazines. He died at Danygraig Care Home in Porthcawl in 2011, having survived his wife.

Rugby career

Nicholls played rugby for both Maesteg Grammar and Hereford Cathedral School and continued to play rugby on his return to Wales, firstly for Maesteg Celtic before switching to Maesteg. Nicholls also turned out for Bridgend before, in the 1952-53 season, switching to first-class team Cardiff. Nicholls spent seven seasons with Cardiff, playing in 150 senior games. In 1958 he was selected for his one and only Wales cap, in that year's Five Nations Championship encounter with Ireland.

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Howard 1931 births 2011 deaths Bridgend RFC players Cardiff RFC players Maesteg RFC players People educated at Hereford Cathedral School Rugby union players from Maesteg Rugby union wings Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players