Phillip Dudley Waller (28 January 1889 – 14 December 1917) was an English-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

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 Johannesburg. He won six caps 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 ...

and also played for the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

in their 1910 tour of South Africa.

Rugby career

Waller joined Newport in 1906 and represented the club on 79 appearances. While playing in Britain he represented two county teams, Somerset 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 ...

. In 1908 Waller turned out for Newport against the touring Australian team. He debuted for Wales against the same touring Australian team he faced with Newport. The next year he was selected to play in all three matches of the

1909 Home Nations Championship The 1909 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-seventh series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 16 January and 20 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Although not offici ...

. In his first Home Nations match against England he was joined by fellow Newport player

Jack Jones Jack Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *Jack Jones (American singer) (born 1938), American jazz and pop singer *Jack Jones, stage name of Australian singer Irwin Thomas (born 1971) *Jack Jones (Welsh musician) (born 1992), Welsh mu ...

and Swansea's

Jack Bancroft Jack Bancroft (9 October 1879 – 7 January 1942),
Scrum.com born John Bancroft, was a Wales, Welsh cricketer, and rugby union ...

. Wales won all their matches and won the Triple Crown. Wales and Waller also faced France during 1909, and after beating them Wales won the unofficial Grand Slam. Waller is therefore one of the very few Welsh internationals to have defeated a Southern Hemisphere team and won a Grand Slam in the same season. Waller played once more for Wales, again against France in a record breaking game in 1910. Waller was chosen in 1910 to represent the British Isles team in their tour of South Africa. Waller was chosen to play in all three tests, and after the tournament was over, elected to stay in South Africa and played for

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

Golden Lions The Golden Lions (currently known as the Sigma Golden Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg who compete in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge. The team is governed by the ...

. After the outbreak of World War I, he enlisted in the South Africa Artillery Regiment. He was killed by shellfire at

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

in northern France in 1917.Rugby Heroes who went to War
bbc.co.uk, November 2008; accessed 9 September 2015.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), p. 472. * 1905 * 1903 * 1909, 1911 * 1909 * 1909 British Isles * 1910, 1910, 1910

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Phil 1889 births 1917 deaths Rugby union players from Bath, Somerset South African military personnel killed in World War I Rugby union forwards English rugby union players Wales international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Newport RFC players Golden Lions players