REPORT: Friends of Rhiwbina Library monthly talk - Gwyn Prescott on ‘This rugby spellbound people – The birth of rugby in Cardiff and Wales’
It’s a cold, dark night in Rhiwbina library and rugby historian and author Gwyn is talking to us about the beginning of rugby in Cardiff. Firstly, Gwyn told us the history of rugby and the public schools it began in, namely Marlborough, Wellington, Haileybury, Clifton, Edinburgh Academy and Cheltenham college.
The earliest rugby clubs were Trinity College Dublin, Liverpool FC, Edinburgh University, Manchester FC, Richmond, Blackheath, Sydney. Oxford, and Glasgow Universities.
So, which was the first team in Cardiff? Set up in 1870, we found out it was Tredegarville. We also found out the original 1876 Cardiff rugby club jersey was black with a skull and crossbones on the chest. This was changed to the more recognisable blue and black hooped jersey by 1878.
Gwyn talked us through the rise of rugby in Cardiff and the groups of teams from pubs, churches, places of work, streets, and districts of Cardiff. In 1895 Cardiff had an astonishing 230 clubs!
We saw an interesting photograph from Westgate Street on a busy match day. From a social perspective, it was genuinely fascinating to see the people of the town of Cardiff going about their business. This was the time Cardiff was rising to prominence as a coal exporting town, and the people of Wales took rugby to their hearts. It was often the case that a photographer would take a photograph of the crowd, and these would be for sale as postcards a few days later.
We got to see these photographs during the talk, and what a joy it was to look into the faces of those people. Cardiff was a small town, but during the Victorian era the population grew and grew. It wasn’t until 1905 that Cardiff became a city.
The interest in rugby grew as the town expanded, with large numbers of spectators attending.
In 1893 the first game of the Triple Crown winning season was played. The weather in Cardiff had been very cold meaning the ground in Cardiff Arms Park was very hard. To combat this, 500 fire devils were brought in, and it was said that the Arms Park looked like a scene from Dante’s Inferno.
This was the time of the ‘Cardiff game’ after the team devised a four three quarter system. This game was adopted by other teams and was successfully used at an international level. Before this change, teams played with nine forwards and six backs.
Gwyn not only educated us about rugby and how it began in Cardiff, but we also found out more about the people of the Cardiff town. A very interesting talk indeed. Gwyn’s books are available in the library, and all good bookshops, although I suspect they’ll be out for a while.
Report and photos by Helen Byrne
You can read more here about Rhiwbina author Gwyn's book This Rugby Spellbound People
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