WALES V ENGLAND CLASSICS

SIX CLASSIC MATCHES AGAINST ENGLAND.

1893 – January 7. WALES 12 ENGLAND 11 (at the Arms Park, Cardiff).
This was the first Triple Crown-winning season for Wales and it began in fairytale fashion when the players were carried shoulder-high out of the ground after defeating England. The game was almost called off due to a bitter frost, but a Cardiff committee-man, Bill Shepherd, suggested that ‘devils’ be brought in.
Devils was the name given to portable fires used by watchmen on street works. Tons of coal were therefore burned on the pitch, night and day, and blackened patches were left on the grass.
Fred Lohden and Howard Marshall gave England the lead with tries, the latter converted by Andrew Stoddart; then Marshall, who was making his debut, scored again before Wales replied when Arthur Gould ran splendidly from halfway to score between the posts and Billy Bancroft converted. This was followed by a Norman Biggs try, but the magnificent Marshall went over for his hat-trick try to make it 11-7 to England.
Incredibly, England never selected Marshall again and his ill-luck continued as he missed a blue at Cambridge through injury and was not picked for a test on the British tour of South Africa.
Wales lost centre Conway Rees with a broken collar bone, but Gould’s second try cut England’s lead to 11-9.
Wales were then awarded a penalty some 30 yards out and near the touchline.
Bancroft refused the plea of his  skipper (Gould) for a placed goal and wanted a drop kick. Gould threw the ball down in anger and as Bancroft drop-kicked, he shouted to Gould that he had been successful, even before the ball had cleared the posts.
Many in the crowd thought that Wales had lost or drawn, but Bancroft had known the new scoring values that were changed that morning and gave Wales the win by way of his drop kick. In any event, WRU secretary and former player, WH Gwynn, shouted: “We’ve won!”
Scorers.
Wales – Tries: Arthur Gould 2, Norman Biggs. Con: Billy Bancroft. Pen:
Bancroft.
England – Tries: Howard Marshall 3, Fred Lohden. Con: Andrew Stoddart.

1903 – January 10. WALES 21 ENGLAND 5 (at the Arms Park, Cardiff).
The match belonged to Newport forward Jehoida Hodges, who was switched to the wing position after just 25 minutes when skipper Tom Pearson fell to a heavy tackle from Bert ‘Octopus’ Gamlin, the England full back.
By half-time, Hodges had crossed the England line three times in a remarkable display and Wales were 21-0 in front and uncatchable.
Pearson had to be lured out of retiement to lead the side, as Gwyn Nicholls was out with injury, and opened the scoring. It was his first cap for five years and proved to be his last.
Dicky Owen, Hodges, Hodges again (from a Rhys Gabe run) and Hodges with third (from a Strand Jones move) all crossed the England line with a second-half reply from Denys ‘David’ Dobson went over for a try.
The intrepid Dobson had played for London Welsh and in 1904 was to become the first British tourist to be sent off. His hand-off was rated as ‘a bit weak’ after he was killed by a charging rhinoceros in Nyassaland at the age of 36!
George Travers from Pill Harriers made his debut in this match, as did Fred Jowett of Swansea, who made his only appearance and turned professional two years later.
Scorers.
Wales – Tries: Jerhoida Hodges 3, Dicky Owen, Tom Pearson.  Cons: Strand Jones 3.
England – Try: Denys Dobson.

1933 – January 21. ENGLAND 3 WALES 7 (at Twickenham).
This will always be rembered as Ronnie Boon’s match. It was the day that the ‘Twickenham Bogy’ was lifted at last. Wales had waited 23 years for it and this first success at rugby’s headquarters was watched by a record championship-match attendance of 64,000, which included the Prince of Wales.
Engfland led 3-0 at half-time with a try by fly half Walter Elliot, but within a minute of the second half starting, centre Ron Gerrard soccer-kicked swtraight into the hands of Boon who, in his usual cheeky manner, dropped a goal (then counting as four points) with three men outside him for a possible try!
At 4-3, it was Boon who clinched the win as Maurice Turnbull sent the ball along the line for Claude Davey to feed the Cardiff wing, who then raced round to the posts for a try. The Welsh touch-judge flagged the conversion kick by Viv Jenkins as over, but Irish referee Tom Bell ruled that the effort was wide.
Watcyn Thomas, the Swansea back-row forward, led Wales for the first time in a side that contained seven new caps, including three magnificent backs who were all to play cricket for Glamorgan: Viv Jenkins, the 20-years-old Wilfred Wooller and Maurice Turnbull, who won an England test cap, but was killed in Normandy in 1944. It was said that Wooller’s tackle on the flying Elliot was alone worth the admission fee!
Harry Bowcott and Claude Davey were the ‘old hands’ who controlled splendidly and Iorrie Isaacs, who Leeds RL seven months afterwards, made a fine start, despite the first-turning up, first-packing down rule for forwards arriving at a scrum. Welsh-speaking, Pontarddulais-born Arthur Vaughan-Jones played in the England pack.
Scorers.
England – Try: Walter Elliot.
Wales – Try: Ronnie Boon.  DG: Boon.

1967 – April 15. WALES 34 ENGLAND 21 (at the Arms ark, Cardiff).
Quite simply, this was the Keith Jarrett match. Winning his first cap at the age of 18 years 1 months, the former Monmouth schoolboy not only scored 19 points to equal Jack Bancroft’s effort in 1910, but he also scored a try that almost brought the house down. And yet few would have ever have selected him at full back again and, thankfully the Wales selectors agreed.
Normally a centre, Jarrett was selected as the last line of defence and his club, Newport, was asked to try him there in the previous week against Newbridge. So bad was he, however, that Newport and Wales skipper David Watkins brought him back to centre at half-time!
Few viewers would later recall that England had closed to be 19-15 behind, when Watkins waved Jarrett deeper and deeper in defence. The skipper was correct, for when centre Colin  MacFadyean kicked deeply, and well, into the Welsh half, it would have carried over a normally positioned full back.
Instead, Jarrett ran into the ball at pace and raced away passed several astonished defenders to touch down in the north-east corner, just when it appeared that he was about to run out of the gates!
Jarrett proceeded to place the conversion from the touchline and TV commentator Bill McLaren quipped: “This laddie can do no wrong.” And he was correct. Everything had gone right for Jarrett: his first goal kick had struck a post before going over and six more followed, as did four other good tries by Wales and three by England, including two by lock John Barton. Not that these mattered. It was Jarrett’s day and a debut out of the storybooks, while for Wales it was their biggest win since the 49-14 beating of France 57 years earlier.
Scorers.
Wales – Tries: Gerald Davies 2, Keith Jarrett, Dai Morris, Dewi Bebb. 
Cons: Jarrett 5.
Pens: Jarrett 2.    DG: Billy Raybould.
England – Tries: John Barton 2, Keith Savage.   Pens: Roger Hosen 4.

1993 – February 6.  WALES 10 ENGLAND 9 (at the Arms Park, Cardiff).
Wales were the underdogs and for many it was just a question of how many points England would score. Maybe England thought the same, as they led 9-3, until Emyr Lewis kicked ahead. It appeared to be a wasted kick, as Rory Underwood had it covered, but Ieuan Evans had followed along the touchline at speed.
As Underwood dallied, he did not see that Evans was flying up behind him and was amazed to see him kick the ball on and leave full back Jonathan Webb standing to race over the line at great pace and dive on the ball for a famous try.
Neil Jenkins converted from halfway out and Wales led 10-9 with the second half still to come. England claimed that their Welsh-born scrum half Dewi Morris had scored a try, but it was disallowed and Webb hit a post with a penalty effort. However, Wales resisted with full back Michael Rayer outstanding as the last line of defence, and the Princess of Wales, at last, was able to witness a win for Wales.
Scorers.
Wales – Try: Ieuan Evans. Con: Neil Jenkins. Pen: Jenkins.
England – Pens: Jonathan Webb 2. DG:Jerry Guscott.

1999 – April 11.  WALES 2 ENGLAND 31 (at Wembley Stadium, London).
A storming, even dancing run by Scott Gibbs in the 82nd minute brought Wales to within a point of England’s total. It all rested on the Neil Jenkins conversion kick.
The Pontypridd player had already landed seven out of seven and he made no mistake from halfway out to give Wales an unexpected success.
England should have wrapped the match up earlier, but partly through their own over-confidence and partly through the new belief in Welsh hearts (instilled by coach Graham Henry), the men in red stuck it out.
England scored three first-half tries and led 25-15 until Jenkins put over his sixth penalty right on the half-time whistle. A Shane Howarth try and a Jenkins conversion levelled it, but Jonny Wilkinson fired over two penalty goals to put England ahead again at 31-25.
England attacked in injury time only for Tim Rodber to be penalised for a big hit on Colin Charvis. Wales came downfield for man-of-the-match Chris Wyatt to win a lineout and Gibbs to produce his moment of Welsh wizardry.
The attendance of 78,883 represented the biggest-ever for a ‘home’ Wales international – the match being played at Wembley as the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was still being constructed.
Tom Jones and Max Boyce led the pre-match singing. Team manager David Pickering called Henry ‘The man with the Mdas touch’. Henry gave his estimate of Neil Jenkins, saying: “He is the best goalkicker I have ever worked with. And I’ve worked with Grant Fox.”
Scorers.
Wales – Tries: Shane Howarth, Scott Gibbs.  Cons: Neil Jenkins 2. Pens:
Jenkins 6.
England – Tries: Dan Luger, Steve Hanley, Richard Hill. Cons: Jonny Wilkinson 2. Pens: Wilkinson 4.