William Towers (rugby Player)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William Hunter Towers (1861 – 7 July 1904) 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
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
Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
and county rugby for
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
. He was capped twice 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 ...
Welsh Rugby Union player profiles
/ref> and was part of the Welsh team that faced the first overseas tourists, the New Zealand Natives.


Rugby career

Towers originally played rugby for local club Hartlepool Rovers, and represented his county side, Durham. After moving to Wales, Towers switched to first-class Welsh team Swansea. It was while playing for Swansea that Towers was first selected to play for Wales in a game against Ireland as part of the
1887 Home Nations Championship The 1887 Home Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 8 January and 12 March. It was contested by England national rugby union team, England, ...
. Towers was one of two new caps on the day, the other being Llanelli's
John Goulstone Lewis John Goulstone Lewis (25 December 1859 – 9 May 1935)
Scrum.com was a
Tom Clapp Tom Clapp (25 October 1858 – 15 October 1933) was an English-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and Nantyglo RFC. He won 14 caps for Wales and captained the team on three occasions. Clapp was the first ...
, Wales beat the Irish team even though Ireland outscored Wales three tries to one; a peculiarity of the scoring system of the time. In 1888 Towers, now captain of the Swansea senior team, gained his second and final international cap when he was chosen to face the touring New Zealand Natives. Although certain members of the Welsh team received a hostile reception from the St. Helen's crowd,Billot (1972), pg 17. Wales played well; with Towers scoring a
try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...
which
Jim Webb James Henry Webb Jr. (born February 9, 1946) is an American politician and author. He has served as a United States senator from Virginia, Secretary of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Counsel for the United States ...
converted. The Welsh managed another two tries without reply, for a memorable win. Two days later, on Christmas Eve, Towers faced the same New Zealand side as he led out the Swansea team against the tourists. In heavy rain, Swansea lost the match with the press criticising the Swansea players for complacency.Billot (1972), pg 19. During the same tour, Towers refereed the match between the New Zealand natives and
Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...
three days before the Welsh match, which Llanelli won thanks to a Harry Bowen dropped goal.Billot (1972), pg 15.


International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 472. * 1887 * 1888


Bibliography

* * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Towers, William 1861 births 1904 deaths Durham County RFU players English rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Hartlepool Swansea RFC players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Welsh rugby union referees