{{short description|Wales international rugby union footballer}} {{about||the Welsh politician|Evan Mathew Richards}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Evan Richards | image = | caption = | birth_name = Evan Sloane Richards | nickname = | birth_place = Swansea, Wales | death_place = Llandaff, Wales<ref>[http://www.swansearfc.co.uk/history_browser_view.php?image_id=1049 Swansea RFC player profile]{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> | height = | weight = | ru_position = Forward | amatyears1 = | amatteam1 = Swansea RFC | ru_amclubcaps = | ru_amclubpoints = | ru_amupdate = | repteam1 = Wales<ref>[https://archive.today/20110526115508/http://www.wru.co.uk/12750_14256.php?player=31841&includeref=dynamic Welsh Rugby Union player profiles]</ref> | repyears1 = 1885-1887 | repcaps1 = 2 | reppoints1 = 0 | ru_ntupdate = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | ru_coachupdate = | other = | occupation = | spouse = | children = | relatives = Evan Matthew Richards (father) | school = | university = | website = | birth_date={{Birth date|1862|01|23|df=yes}} | death_date={{death date and age|1931|04|19|1862|01|23|df=yes}} }}
'''Evan Sloane Richards''' (23 January 1862 – 19 April 1931) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea, captaining the club through three seasons during the 1880s. Richards' father was Member of Parliament for Ceredigion, Evan Matthew Richards.
==Education== Richards was educated at Clifton College.<ref>"Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J.A.O. p62: Bristol; J.W Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948</ref>
== Rugby career == Richards first came to prominence within rugby as a club player for Swansea. Before being selected to represent the Welsh team, he was made captain of Swansea in the 1883/84 season. The next season Richards was capped for Wales in the opening game of the 1885 Home Nations Championship against England. Captained by Newport's Charlie Newman, Wales lost the match by three tries and Richards lost his place for the next game.
Richards was again Swansea captain in the 1886/87 season and was awarded his second and final Welsh cap in the Scottish game of the 1887 Home Nations Championship. Wales were beaten heavily in a one-sided game, and Richards lost his place to Edward Alexander. Richards would captain Swansea in the 1887/88 season, and during 1888, he refereed two matches in the New Zealand Māori's tour of Europe; the matches against Welsh clubs, Cardiff and Newport.
===International games played=== '''Wales'''<ref name="Smith471">Smith (1980), pg 471.</ref> *{{ru|ENG}} 1885 *{{ru|SCO}} 1887
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |last=Smith |first=David |author2=Williams, Gareth |title=Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union |year=1980 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=0-7083-0766-3 }}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-sports}} {{succession box|title=Swansea RFC captain|before=George Lockwood Morris |after=William Gwynn |years=1883-1884}} {{succession box|title=Swansea RFC captain|before=William Gwynn |after=William Towers |years=1886-1888}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Evan}} Category:1862 births Category:1931 deaths Category:People educated at Clifton College Category:Rugby union forwards Category:Rugby union players from Swansea Category:Swansea RFC players Category:Wales international rugby union players Category:Welsh rugby union players Category:Welsh rugby union referees