William Alexander (16 July 1874 – 1 November 1937) 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 ...

prop who played club rugby for

Llwynypia Llwynypia ( cy, Llwynypia ) is a village and community (and electoral ward) in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom betwee ...

Club career

Alexander began his club rugby days with local rugby team

Glynneath Glynneath ( cy, Glyn-nedd "valley of the River Neath"), also spelt ''Glyn-neath'' and ''Glyn Neath'', is a small town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in th ...

, but later moved to

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coal mining, coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fa ...

team Llwynypia. Although an unfashionable second-tier club, Llwynypia provided several international caps around the turn of the century as the 'Rhondda forward' gained acceptability into the Welsh pack. Alexander as a strong prop forward was first selected to represent Wales in the

1898 Home Nations Championship The 1898 Home Nations Championship was the sixteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 5 February and 2 April. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For the second year ru ...

in a game against Ireland, under the captaincy of

Billy Bancroft William James Bancroft (2 March 1871 – 3 March 1959) was a Welsh international fullback, who played club rugby for Swansea, and a county cricketer for Glamorgan, for whom he was the first professional player in 1895. Bancroft was seen as o ...

. After a strong Welsh win, Alexander retained his position for the last game of the campaign against England. Alexander was back for all three matches of the 1899 Championship, which saw Wales demolish England in the opening game at St Helens, but then slip away in the later two encounters against Scotland and Ireland. Alexander missed the 1900 Championship, but played the last two games of the 1901 tournament. These would be his very last internationals, but he finished on a successful note with a clean win against the Irish. Alexander scored his only international points in the Ireland game with two tries. The match is noted as a transition game which saw the end of an older generation, with not only Alexander but also Bancroft playing his last game, and the introduction of future Welsh heroes

Rhys Gabe Rhys Thomas "Rusty" Gabe (22 June 1880 – 15 September 1967) born as Rees Thomas Gape,Jenkins (1991), pg 60. was a Welsh rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli, London Welsh and Cardiff and gained 24 caps for Wales, mainly as a c ...

Dicky Owen Dicky Owen (17 November 1876 - 27 February 1932) was a Welsh international scrum-half who played club rugby for Swansea RFCSmith (1979), pg 132. Owen is seen as one of the greatest Welsh scrum-halves and won 35 caps for Wales between 1901 and ...

and Dick Jones.

International games played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 463. * 1898, 1899 * 1898, 1899, 1901 * 1899, 1901

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, William 1874 births 1937 deaths Ferndale RFC players Glamorgan Police RFC players Glynneath RFC players Llwynypia RFC players Rugby union players from Glynneath Rugby union props Wales international rugby union players Welsh police officers Welsh rugby union players Glamorgan Police officers