David Gwynn

David Gwynn

Full name	David Gwynn
Date of birth	28 December 1861(1861-12-28)
Place of birth	Swansea, Wales
Date of death	8 March 1910(1910-03-08) (aged 48)
Place of death	Swansea, Wales[1]
Notable relative(s)	William Gwynn (brother)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Wing
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
1878-1890 1890-?	Swansea RFC Oldham Exeter Lancashire
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1882-1891	Wales[2]	6	(0)

David 'Dai' Gwynn (28 December 1861 - 8 March 1910^[3]) was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Swansea and county rugby for Lancashire. Gwynn played for Wales on six occasions and was the brother of William Gwynn, who also played international rugby for Wales.

Rugby career

Gwynn made his first club appearance for Swansea in 1878 and in 1882 he was part of the third Welsh national team. Under the captaincy of Charles Lewis, this was the first home game played by Wales, and the match at St. Helen's ended in another defeat to Wales at the hands of the English. This was Gwynn's last international match for just over four years, and during this period his brother played for Wales five times and the brothers never played in the same team national team together. When Gwynn was selected again, it was for the 1887 Home Nations Championship in a game against Scotland. Gwynn found himself on the losing side for a second time and was forced to wait another three years before his was selected to play for his country again. When Gwynn was reselected he was chosen to face England as part of the 1890 Championship, which saw Wales beat the English for the very first time, thanks to a try from William Stadden. This was followed by a draw against Ireland as part of the same tournament.

Gwynn played two final games for Wales, the Scotland and Ireland matches of the 1891 Championship. Gwynn moved north and played for Oldham during this period,^[4] though continued to turn out for Swansea when he could. He was joined at Oldham by William McCutcheon who not only played for Swansea, but also represented Lancashire with Gwynn at county level.^[5] When Gwynn left the sport of rugby, he became heavily associated with Swansea Cricket Club and umpired for the club.

International matches played

Wales^[6]

•  England 1882, 1890, 1891
•  Scotland 1887, 1891
•  Ireland 1890

Change of Code

When Oldham converted from the rugby union code to the rugby league code on the 29th August 1895, David Gwynn would have been approximately 34 years of age. Consequently, he may have been both a rugby union and rugby league footballer for Oldham.

Bibliography

• Parry-Jones, David (1999). Prince Gwyn, Gwyn Nicholls and the First Golden Era of Welsh Rugby. Bridgend: seren. ISBN 1854112627. 
• Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0766-3. 

References

1. ^ Swansea RFC player profile
2. ^ Welsh Rugby Union player profiles
3. ^ "Death details at freebmd.org.uk". freebmd.org.uk. 2010-12-31. http://www2.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?scan=1&r=123172624&d=bmd_1315303973. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 
4. ^ Graham Williams, Peter Lush, David Farrar (November 2009). "The British Rugby League Records Book [Page-178]". London League Publications Ltd. ISBN 978-1-903659-49-6
5. ^ Marshall, Francis Football; the Rugby union game (1892) Cassell and company Ltd. pg 367
6. ^ Smith (1980), pg 466.

External links

• Search for "Gwynn" at rugbyleagueproject.org
• Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk

Persondata
Name	Gwynn, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	28 December 1861
Place of birth	Swansea, Wales
Date of death	8 March 1910
Place of death	Swansea, Wales