Richard Henry Bowlas Summers (30 July 1860 – 22 December 1941) 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 ...

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 ...

fullback who played club rugby for

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...

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 ...

. Summers was a member of the very first Wales international team, that faced England in 1881.

Rugby career

Summers first played rugby for

Cowbridge Grammar School Cowbridge Grammar School was one of the best-known schools in Wales until its closure in 1974. It was replaced by Cowbridge Comprehensive School. Founded in the 17th century by Sir John Stradling and refounded by Sir Leoline Jenkins, it had c ...

as a schoolboy, but in May 1879 he left

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for e ...

for a place at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

, which he also represented.Smith (1980), pg 38. In July 1880 he left Cheltenham and returned to his home town of

where he turned out for local club Haverfordwest RFC. When

Richard Mullock Richard Mullock (3 May 1851 – 1920) was a Welsh sporting administrator and official, who is most notable for organising the first Welsh rugby union international game and was instrumental in the creation of the Welsh Football Union, which bec ...

began looking for players to represent the first Wales international rugby team, Summers fitted the profile of an educated gentleman from a club representing one of the outer reaches of the Welsh rugby map. It is believed that Summers came to the attention of Mullock as both Cowbridge Grammar and Cheltenham College were on the same fixture list as

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 ...

, whose players Mullock was in contact with. Wales1881

Summers was played at fullback along with Newport's

Charlie Newman Charlie Newman (28 February 1857 – 28 September 1922) was a Welsh international three-quarter who played club rugby for Newport. He was awarded ten caps for Wales and captained the team on six occasions. An original member of the Newport squa ...

, while the team was captained by Australian

James Bevan James Alfred Bevan (15 April 1858 – 3 February 1938) was a Wales international rugby union three-quarter who played club rugby for Clifton RFC and Newport. He is best known for being the first Welsh international captain, whilst at Cambridg ...

. The international game was a disaster for Wales; the team had never played together before, and many were out of position; but even with these problems the match was far too easy a victory for the English. After losing by eight goals and six tries to nil the national press was angry at what was seen as a humiliation to the country. Summers was never chosen to represent his country again,Richard Summers player profile
Scrum.com and not long afterwards he emigrated to India.Smith (1980), pg 57. Although Summers gave Haverfordwest their first international player in Wales' first game, it took the club almost one hundred years to produce another Welsh cap, when

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan, (10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He is the playwright behind '' The Audience'' and '' Frost/Nixon'' and the screenwriter of ''The Queen'' (2006), '' Frost/Nixon'' (2008), ''The Damned United ...

was selected in 1980.Smith (1980), pg 459.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union)Smith (1980), pg 472. * 1881

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Richard 1860 births 1941 deaths People educated at Cheltenham College Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Haverfordwest Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players