Keith Jarrett (born 18 May 1948) is a Welsh former dual-code 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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played representative rugby union (RU) for British Lions,

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 ...

where he set point scoring records, and

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, and at club level for

Abertillery RFC Abertillery Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Abertillery. According to their website, they were founded in 1883 by a coal miner named Doug Wallace who was a local resident who moved from Scotland in 1882, Wallace was know ...

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

and

London Welsh RFC London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

, as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, i.e. number 12 or 13, and representative rugby league (RL) for

, and at club level for Barrow.

Early career

Jarrett was born in Newport,

,Newport RFC player profiles
the son of former

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

cricketer Hal Jarrett, and attended

Monmouth School Monmouth School for Boys is a public school (independent day and boarding school) for boys in Monmouth, Wales. The school was founded in 1614 with a bequest from William Jones, a successful merchant and trader. The School is run as a trust, t ...

. Like his father he also played cricket for

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club ( cy, Criced Morgannwg) is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Glamorgan ( cy, Morgannwg). Founded in 1888, ...

. In 1966 Keith Jarrett played rugby union for Newport against

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

, shortly after leaving school.

Cricket

Jarrett played for Glamorgan Second XI from 1965 to 1967, appearing in two first-class matches in 1967 – one each against the Indian and Pakistani tourists. He was a middle order bat and change right arm seam bowler.

International rugby career

Jarrett played his first international for Wales on 15 April 1967 against England, aged eighteen years. He had been selected at full back even though he had never played senior rugby in that position. Newport were asked to play him at full back against Newbridge on the weekend before the international to give him some experience. He did not seem to be much of a success in his new position and at half time, his captain David Watkins, switched him to centre. The following week Jarrett played in his first international and scored a breathtaking try. England won a line-out in their own 25 (as it was then). The ball was passed down the line to English centre, Colin McFadyean, who kicked towards the halfway line. The ball bounced once and was seemingly going in to touch. Instead, Jarret sprinted onto the ball, taking it without breaking stride. He sprinted down the touchline, outflanking the whole of the astonished England defence, to score in the left corner. He converted his own try from just inside the touchline. Besides scoring a try, he kicked two penalty goals and five conversions for a total of 19 points. His performance on the field was so impressive that the match has been known ever since as the Keith Jarrett match and he made the cover of ''

Rugby World ''Rugby World'' is a monthly rugby union magazine running since October 1960. It is published monthly by Future plc and edited by Owain Jones who took over from long-standing editor Paul Morgan in January 2012. Paul Morgan was long considered ...

'' magazine two months later. The try has been voted seventh in a poll of the top ten Welsh tries and he is listed on the Welsh Rugby Union Official Website as the scorer of the "Greatest Ever Welsh try". In 1968 he set a club record of 30 points for Newport against

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a weal ...

, and was selected for the 1968 British Lions tour to South Africa. Jarrett played for Wales at rugby union ten times in all, making his final appearance against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 21 June 1969 during the Wales tour of New Zealand and Australia.

Later career

On his return from tour in 1969, Jarrett joined rugby league club Barrow for a signing-on fee of £14,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £380,000 in 2016). He was also selected for the Welsh national rugby league side, before he had played his first match for Barrow. He was later transferred to

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, although he did not play from them. Jarrett's rugby career was cut short in 1973, aged just 25, when he suffered a stroke resulting from a haemorrhage.

References

External links