Henry Joseph Simpson (1856 – 22 March 1911)
ESPN Scrum.com 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 ...

forward who played club rugby for Cardiff Rugby Football Club 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 ...

. He won only three caps for Wales but captained the squad for one match during the first years of international rugby.

Rugby career

Although born in England, there were few rules regarding nationality in the early period of national rugby, and when in 1884, in a game against England, Frank Purdon withdrew in the morning before the game and Simpson was selected to take his place. The game took place at Cardigan Fields in Leeds, which a disappointing crowd of only 2,000 witnessed, and though Wales lost Simpson was reselected for the remaining two games of the

1884 Home Nations Championship The 1884 Home Nations Championship was the second series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 12 April 1884. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. England won the champ ...

. Wales lost again in the second game of the tournament against Scotland, but in the final match of the competition, in a home game at the

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

, Simpson was given the captaincy. This was Simpson's last game but it resulted in a Welsh win with tries from

Tom Clapp Tom Clapp (25 October 1858 – 15 October 1933) was an English-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and Nantyglo RFC. He won 14 caps for Wales and captained the team on three occasions. Clapp was the first ...

and

William Norton William Joseph Norton (2 November 1900 – 4 December 1963) was an Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957, Leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1960, Minister for Social Welfare from ...

. The 1884 match against Ireland which Simpson captained is often remembered because Ireland arrived two players short, and Wales supplied them with two replacements, both of whom became dual nationals as they also represented Wales.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 471. * 1884 * 1884 * 1884

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Joe 1856 births 1911 deaths People from Sedgefield English rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from County Durham Wales rugby union captains Cardiff RFC players