Edward "Teddy" Morgan (22 May 1880 – 1 September 1949) was a Welsh 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 it ...
player. He was a member of the victorious
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
team who beat the 1905 touring
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
in the famous ''
Match of the Century'' and is remembered for scoring the game's winning try. He played club rugby for
London Welsh
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 seaso ...
and
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...
.
Career
Morgan became a general practitioner in
Sketty, Swansea before moving to a new practice in East Anglia. While at Sketty, another international rugby player joined his practice in the early 1920s, D Bertram, who would go on to be capped 11 times for Scotland. Morgan died on 1 September 1949 in
North Walsham
North Walsham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England, within the North Norfolk district.
Demography
The civil parish has an area of and in the 2011 census had a population of 12,634. For the purposes of local government, the pa ...
. In 2008, Morgan was celebrated by the local council when it was decided to raise a
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...
at his birthplace to commemorate his life.
Rugby career
Wales
Morgan moved to London from
Newport in 1902 to take up a post at
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
, and played with
London Welsh
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 seaso ...
. It was while playing in London that Morgan earned his first international cap, for Wales against England. Morgan's career with Wales saw him score 14 tries from the wing, but his best-remembered was that scored against
the Original All Blacks in the ''
Match of the Century'' at
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 ...
on 16 December 1905. In the monumental match between the unbeaten All Blacks and the Triple Crown-winning Welsh team, Morgan is believed to have led his team in singing the
Welsh national anthem
"" () is the official national anthem of Wales. The title, taken from the first words of the song, means "Old Land of My Fathers" in Welsh, usually rendered in English as simply "Land of My Fathers". The words were written by Evan James an ...
in response to the New Zealanders'
haka
Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...
.
This was the first time a national anthem had been sung at a sporting event.
The strongly contested game was decided by a single score. In the twenty-fifth minute, Welsh scrum half
Dicky Owen released the ball to
Cliff Pritchard
Cliff Pritchard (1881–1954) was a Welsh international centre who played club rugby for Newport RFC and Pontypool RFC. Pritchard was capped on five occasions and scored two tries for his country. He is best known as one of the Welsh squad that b ...
, who received the ball at ankle level before darting forward. Having run past Bob Dean, Pritchard released to
Rhys Gabe who in turn found Morgan. Morgan dummied
George Gillett and touched the ball down in the corner.
[Parry-Jones (1999), pg 152.]
After the match Morgan expressed disagreement with the referee's controversial decision to disallow a try claimed by New Zealand player
Bob Deans. A contemporary reporter stated "Morgan sprinted across from the left wing, and helped Winfield to save what otherwise would have been a try by tackling Deans before be grounded the ball, and, though a splendid effort was made by the centre threequarter to straggle over, timely reinforcements came to Morgan, and the ball was grounded between two and three feet from the line, though Deans considers he grounded the ball in goal. But the incident has been the subject of different accounts, with
Cliff Pritchard
Cliff Pritchard (1881–1954) was a Welsh international centre who played club rugby for Newport RFC and Pontypool RFC. Pritchard was capped on five occasions and scored two tries for his country. He is best known as one of the Welsh squad that b ...
,
Rhys Gabe and Welsh captain
claiming to have been among the tacklers and in a good position to see that the ball was grounded short of the line.
[Davis J. C]
Old Welsh Rugby Heroes Foregather at the Microphone
'' The Referee'', Sydney, 13 February 1936, at Trove
Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...
[Thomas (1979), pg39.][Parry-Jones (1999), pg 156.]
International games played
Wales
[Smith (1980), pg 467.]
* 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906
* 1908
* 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906
* 1905
* 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906
*
1906
Events
January–February
* January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
British Isles
In 1904 Morgan was one of the Welsh players chosen to tour Australasia
[Smith (1980), pg 148.] under the captaincy of
Bedell-Sivright. Morgan would captain the British team against both Australia and New Zealand during this tour.
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Teddy
1880 births
1949 deaths
Welsh rugby union players
Wales international rugby union players
20th-century Welsh medical doctors
Wales rugby union captains
Rugby union players from Aberdare
Newport RFC players
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales
Swansea RFC players
Glamorgan County RFC players
London Welsh RFC players
Rugby union wings
People educated at Christ College, Brecon
Welsh cricketers
Glamorgan cricketers