Hugh 'Sawdust' Hughes was an 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

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 ...

. Although very little personal information is available for Hughes, he is notable for facing the touring New Zealand Māoris, the first touring Southern Hempishere rugby team, when they lost to Cardiff in 1888.

Rugby career

Hughes was first selected for the Wales national rugby team in the away match against the Scottish team during the

1887 Home Nations Championship The 1887 Home Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 8 January and 12 March. It was contested by England national rugby union team, England, ...

. The Wales team had experienced a fairly stable fullback position, filled by the likes of Charles Lewis, Arthur Gould and for the previous three matches, Llanelli's Harry Bowen. Hughes was brought in for the second game, which began a period of instability for the Wales fullback position. Wales suffered a terrible defeat, which saw the Scottish scoring fourteen tries. Hughes was dropped for the next match, with the selectors opting for Samuel Clark. Although overlooked for the 1888 Home Nations Championship, Hughes was part of the Cardiff team that on 29 December 1888, faced and beat the

New Zealand Māori rugby union team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

.Billot (1972), pg 21. The Cardiff match was the last game of the Māori's tour of Wales which had been of mixed fortune for the tourists, though the team had beaten both

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

and

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

over the last five days. Under the captaincy of

Frank Hill Frank Robert Hill (21 May 1906 – 28 August 1993) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager. Playing career Forfar and Aberdeen Hill was born in Forfar and started his career at Forfar Athletic F.C., Forfar Athletic, jo ...

, Cardiff were on top form, with a resurgent

Norman Biggs Norman Witchell Biggs (3 November 1870 – 27 February 1908) was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Cardiff and county rugby for Glamorgan. Both Biggs and his brother Selwyn played international rugby for Wales ...

scoring early on. Cardiff scored a second try later in the game, with a rare joint try from WT Morgan and

Sydney Nicholls Sydney Herbert Nicholls (29 May 1868 – 24 November 1946) was an English-born dual code rugby forward who played club rugby under the union code for Cardiff, and in his later years league rugby with Hull F.C. Nicholls won four caps for Wale ...

, which Hughes converted. Cardiff won by a goal to nil. Hughes was reselected for Wales in the 1889 Championship, again for the away match to Scotland. Wales lost this game, but by a far smaller margin than the 1887 encounter. The next match of the tournament saw Hughes replaced by

Ned Roberts Edward John "Ned" Roberts (1867 – 14 June 1940)
Scrum.com was a

. A sketch of Mr. Hughes, including his background, where he was from, and previous teams he played for, was printed in the "South Wales Echo" on 17 April 1886.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union)Smith (1980), pg 467. * 1887, 1889

Bibliography

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Hugh Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Cardiff RFC players Rugby union fullbacks Year of death missing Year of birth missing