# Jack Rhapps > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jack_Rhapps > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Jack_Rhapps.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Rhapps > Source revision: 1335567184 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Former Wales rugby union, and rugby league footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}} {{Use British English|date=October 2016}} {{Infobox rugby league biography | name = John Rhapps | birth_name = Jack Rhapps | birth_date = {{birth date|1876|7|15|df=y}} | birth_place = [Aberaman](/source/Aberaman), Wales | death_date = {{Death date and age|1950|1|23|1876|7|15|df=yes}} | death_place = [Stretford](/source/Stretford), England | height = {{convert|1.81|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | weight = {{convert|87|kg|stlb|abbr=on}} | first = RU | ru_position = [Forward](/source/Rugby_union_positions) | ru_club1 = [Penygraig RFC](/source/Penygraig_RFC) | ru_year1start = 189? | ru_year1end = 97 | ru_teamA = [Wales](/source/Wales_national_rugby_union_team) | ru_yearAstart = 1897 | ru_appearancesA = 1 | ru_pointsA = 0 | position = [Forward](/source/Rugby_league_positions) | club1 = [Salford](/source/Salford_Red_Devils) | year1start = 1897 | year1end = 1910 | appearances1 = 286 | tries1 = 3 | goals1 = 1 | fieldgoals1 = 0 | points1 = 11 | teamA = [Other Nationalities](/source/Other_Nationalities_rugby_league_team) | yearAstart = 1904 | appearancesA = 1 | pointsA = 0 }} '''John "Jack" Rhapps''' (15 July 1876 – 23 January 1950)[http://www.wru.co.uk/eng/matchcentre/squads_wales_player_archive.php?player=31835&includeref=dynamic Jack Rapps player profile] WRU website[http://www.espnscrum.com/wales/rugby/player/1253.html Jack Rhapps player profile] Scrum.com was a [Welsh](/source/Wales) international [rugby union](/source/rugby_union) forward who played club rugby for [Penygraig](/source/Penygraig_RFC), and international rugby for [Wales](/source/Wales_national_rugby_union_team). Rhapps later "Went North", when he turned professional, joining [rugby league](/source/rugby_league) team [Salford](/source/Salford_Red_Devils), and along with [Anthony Starks](/source/Anthony_Starks) they became the World's first dual-code rugby internationals. Rhapps was born in the Penylan pub in [Aberaman](/source/Aberaman),Smith (1980), pg 108 near [Aberdare](/source/Aberdare), but came to the [Rhondda Valley](/source/Rhondda) to find work. A collier by profession,[http://www.wru.co.uk/15886.php Wales team visit Big Pit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100803012035/http://www.wru.co.uk/15886.php|date=3 August 2010 }} WRU site Rhapps was one of the first 'Rhondda forwards', an aggressive style of forward player who was expected to play a more physical style of game.Parry-Jones (1999), pg 36. ==Rugby career== Rhapps played just a single game for Wales, when he was selected to face England as part of the [1897 Home Nations Championship](/source/1897_Home_Nations_Championship). Rhapps joined a fairly inexperienced pack, which contained two other Rhondda players, Penygraig teammate [Dai Evans](/source/Dai_Evans) and [Llwynypia](/source/Llwynypia_RFC)'s [Dick Hellings](/source/Dick_Hellings). The game ended in the largest win for Wales over the English to that date, but Wales failed to complete the competition after withdrawing from the [International Rugby Board](/source/International_Rugby_Board) after the events of the [Gould Affair](/source/Arthur_Gould_(rugby_union)). Although Wales were readmitted in 1898, Rhapps had ended his international rugby union career by switching to the rugby league code in 1897 when he joined Salford.Bale, John; Maguire, Joseph ''The Global Sports Arena: Athletic Talent Migration in an Interdependent World'', Routledge (1994) pg 30 {{ISBN|978-0-7146-4116-4}} Rhapps was successful during his time as a professional, playing as a [Forward](/source/Rugby_league_positions) in [Salford](/source/Salford_Red_Devils)'s 8–16 defeat by [Swinton](/source/Swinton_Lions) in the [1900 Challenge Cup](/source/1900_Challenge_Cup) Final during the [1899–1900 season](/source/1899%E2%80%931900_Northern_Rugby_Football_Union_season) at [Fallowfield Stadium](/source/Fallowfield_Stadium), [Manchester](/source/Manchester), in front of a crowd of 17,864, and he won a [cap](/source/Cap_(sport)) playing as a [forward](/source/Rugby_league_positions) for [Other Nationalities](/source/Other_Nationalities_rugby_league_team) (RL) while at Salford in the 9–3 victory over England at [Central Park](/source/Central_Park_(Wigan)), [Wigan](/source/Wigan) on Tuesday 5 April 1904, in the first ever international rugby league match.{{cite web|first=Sean|last=Fagan|url=http://www.rl1895.com/1904.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20040401171622/http://www.rl1895.com/1904.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=1 April 2004|title=The First International Rugby League Match|publisher=rl1895.com|accessdate=14 December 2014}} and gained the nickname "The Lion of Salford". ===International matches played=== '''Wales'''Smith (1980), pg 471. * {{ru|ENG}} 1897 '''Other Nationalities''' * {{rl|ENG}} 1904 ==Bibliography== * {{cite book|last=Godwin|first=Terry|title=The International Rugby Championship 1883-1983|year=1984|publisher=Willows Books|location=London|isbn=0-00-218060-X}} * {{cite book|last=Griffiths|first=John|title=The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records|year=1987|publisher=Phoenix House|location=London|isbn=0-460-07003-7}} * {{cite book|last=Parry-Jones|first=David|title=Prince Gwyn, Gwyn Nicholls and the First Golden Era of Welsh Rugby|year=1999|publisher=seren|location=Bridgend|isbn=1-85411-262-7}} * {{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}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhapps, Jack}} Category:1876 births Category:1950 deaths Category:19th-century Welsh sportsmen Category:20th-century Welsh sportsmen Category:Dual-code rugby internationals Category:Other Nationalities rugby league team players Category:Penygraig RFC players Category:Rugby league forwards Category:Rugby league players from Rhondda Cynon Taf Category:Rugby union forwards Category:Rugby union players from Rhondda Cynon Taf Category:Salford RLFC players Category:Wales international rugby union players Category:Welsh miners Category:Welsh rugby league players Category:Welsh rugby union players {{Wales-rugbyleague-bio-stub}} {{Wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jack Rhapps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Rhapps) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Rhapps?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.