Joseph Booth (1873 – 28 April 1958)
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 ...

-born rugby union forward who originally played club rugby for Pontymister and international rugby for Wales. Booth later joined

West Hartlepool R.F.C. West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club (nicknamed West) is an English rugby union club who play in Durham/Northumberland 1 in the seventh tier of the English rugby union system. History West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club was formed in 1881. Of ...

and represented Durham at county level.Jenkins (1991), pg 24.

Rugby career

Booth was the first player to be capped for Pontymister while representing the club, when he was chosen to play for Wales in the country's first match 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 ...

. Wales had just been readmitted into the International Rugby Board after a year of exile due to the events of the Gould Affair. The re-formed Welsh team had seven new caps, with five first time internationals brought into the pack, Booth being one of them. Played away at Limerick, and now captained by Swansea's Billy Bancroft, Wales made an excellent start to the tournament by winning the match 11-3. Despite the victory, Booth was replaced for the next match by Rhondda policeman

Dai Evans David "Dai" Evans (1872 – 29 January 1912) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Penygraig and international rugby for Wales. Evans was born in Maenclochog, Pembrokeshire, but came to the Rhondda Valley to ...

, and never represented Wales again. In the autumn of 1898 Booth moved to England, but unlike many of his fellow players did not switch to the professional

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

code, but instead joined union club West Hartlepool. While at Hartlepool, Booth was also selected to play for Durham County, playing nine games over five seasons.

International matches under the union code

WalesSmith (1980), pg 463. * 1898

Bibliography

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Joseph 1873 births 1958 deaths Durham County RFU players Risca RFC players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Abergavenny Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players