Charles Theodore 'Theo' Harding (26 May 1860 – 13 July 1919) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-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 ...

player who played club rugby for Newport 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 ...

. Harding was an all-round sportsman and also captained Newport Hockey Club in their very first season.Newport Hockey Club
Men's hockey captains

Rugby career

Harding was one of the first Newport players and was given the captaincy of the club in the 1887/88 and the 1888/89 season. During the 1888 Harding twice faced the first overseas touring team the New Zealand Māoris. The first occasion was also Harding's first cap for Wales, when under the captaincy of

Frank Hill Frank Robert Hill (21 May 1906 – 28 August 1993) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager. Playing career Forfar and Aberdeen Hill was born in Forfar and started his career at Forfar Athletic F.C., Forfar Athletic, jo ...

, the Welsh team beat the tourists five points to nil. Four days later, on 26 December, Harding led his Newport team against the Māori's, but without star player and Welsh legend Arthur Gould, Newport's supporters were not optimistic of success.Billot (1972), pg 20. They were proven right when the Māoris won three tries to nil. In 1889, Harding was selected to represent Wales twice as part of the Home Nations Championship. Wales lost both games of the tournament against Scotland and Ireland, and Harding was not chosen to represent his country again.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union)Smith (1980), pg 466. * 1889 * 1888 * 1889

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Theo 1860 births 1919 deaths English rugby union players Newport RFC players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Manchester Wales international rugby union players Welsh male field hockey players