William Elsey (15 November 1870 – 13 June 1936
Scrum.com) 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 it ...

forward who played club rugby for

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 ...

and won a single international cap for

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 ...

in 1895.

Rugby career

Elsey came to note as a rugby player while playing for first class

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 ...

team

. Despite being English born there was a two-year residency rule that allowed non-Welsh born players representing the Wales national team, and in 1895 he was selected to represent Wales as part of the Home Nations Championship. Elsey was brought into the Welsh pack for the Championship opener against England. The Welsh team had changed much since the previous match of the lase season, with only six of the original fifteen reselected, though only Elsey and Swansea's Tom Jackson were new caps amongst the forwards. The match was played at St. Helen's, Swansea with Wales led out by Arthur 'Monkey' Gould, in a team that contained over 100 caps from just seven players, against an English team fielding 10 new caps. Despite being in a far more experienced team, Elsey found himself on the losing side as the English won 14-6, scoring four tries. The Welsh points game from two tries, one of which was scored by Elsey. Even with a score on his international debut, Elsey was replaced for the next match of the Championship by

Ernie George Ernest Edward George (1871 – 28 November 1952) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for a variety of teams, but is most associated with Pontypridd and Cardiff. George was capped three times for Wales between 189 ...

and never represented Wales again.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 465. * 1895

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elsey, William 1870 births 1936 deaths Cardiff RFC players English rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from the London Borough of Lambeth Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Sportspeople from Lambeth