The link is

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -23597265/


Code-switch international’s 1904 cap up for auction
May 12 2009 by Darren Devine, Western Mail

AN international cap that belonged to one of the first Welshmen to swap rugby union for rugby league will go under the hammer at auction today.

Almost all traces of Dai Harris’ playing days have been wiped from the records, but he once played a starring role in the first ever rugby league international, scoring the winning try for a team of “other nationalities” that triumphed over England.

Now, Harris’ international cap from the 1904 contest – thought to be the only such surviving memento – will form one of the lots at a London sports auction.

Harris from Morriston was one of 10 Welshmen in the 12-a-side contest, in which the sport’s officials were experimenting with smaller teams. Almost all 10 seem certain to have come from union.

Philip Rees David, Harris’ great-nephew, inherited the cap and decided to sell it because he has two sons and wanted to avoid handing it down to one at the other’s expense.

Retired electrician Mr David from Port Talbot said rather than the other.

“So selling it is the best way to deal with it.”

Harris, who was 25 when he played against England, signed for Wigan in 1903 as a centre from union side Treherbert.

He played 44 times for the league club, scoring seven tries over 18 months.

But though Harris was to play a pivotal role in the history of the league code, little is known about his earlier career in union.

Rugby historian Sean Fagan said such was the depth of division between the two codes at the turn of the 19th century that any player who switched from union had his career history wiped from its record books.

After league turned professional in 1895, the rulers of the union game came to regard it as a massive threat. “They certainly wiped them out of the records and would also ostracise them from the community.

“You were also suspended if you were even seen talking to a northern league official.”

Harris’ cap is designed with alternating panels of blue, green and red velvet, features a crest bearing a dragon, thistle and a shamrock, and is inscribed “1903-04”.

In the contest itself, played at Harris’ home ground of Central Park, Wigan, on April 5, the Welshman, who had worked as a blacksmith’s assistant before his rugby career, and his teammates triumphed 9-3.

But as significant as the game was in the overall history of the sport it failed to capture the public’s imagination.

Only 6,000 fans turned up, compared to the 29,000 who had just watched Wigan’s two Easter weekend games.

The match was played on a Tuesday afternoon and, after heavy rain, the ground was less than ideal.

And a cup tie between Broughton Rangers and Bradford also ended up being played on the same day, causing several changes to the international team line-up and detracting from its interest as a spectacle.

The cap, expected to fetch £3,000, goes under the hammer today in the Graham Budd Auctions’ sale of sporting memorabilia.

The link is

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -23597265/


Code-switch international’s 1904 cap up for auction
May 12 2009 by Darren Devine, Western Mail

AN international cap that belonged to one of the first Welshmen to swap rugby union for rugby league will go under the hammer at auction today.

Almost all traces of Dai Harris’ playing days have been wiped from the records, but he once played a starring role in the first ever rugby league international, scoring the winning try for a team of “other nationalities” that triumphed over England.

Now, Harris’ international cap from the 1904 contest – thought to be the only such surviving memento – will form one of the lots at a London sports auction.

Harris from Morriston was one of 10 Welshmen in the 12-a-side contest, in which the sport’s officials were experimenting with smaller teams. Almost all 10 seem certain to have come from union.

Philip Rees David, Harris’ great-nephew, inherited the cap and decided to sell it because he has two sons and wanted to avoid handing it down to one at the other’s expense.

Retired electrician Mr David from Port Talbot said rather than the other.

“So selling it is the best way to deal with it.”

Harris, who was 25 when he played against England, signed for Wigan in 1903 as a centre from union side Treherbert.

He played 44 times for the league club, scoring seven tries over 18 months.

But though Harris was to play a pivotal role in the history of the league code, little is known about his earlier career in union.

Rugby historian Sean Fagan said such was the depth of division between the two codes at the turn of the 19th century that any player who switched from union had his career history wiped from its record books.

After league turned professional in 1895, the rulers of the union game came to regard it as a massive threat. “They certainly wiped them out of the records and would also ostracise them from the community.

“You were also suspended if you were even seen talking to a northern league official.”

Harris’ cap is designed with alternating panels of blue, green and red velvet, features a crest bearing a dragon, thistle and a shamrock, and is inscribed “1903-04”.

In the contest itself, played at Harris’ home ground of Central Park, Wigan, on April 5, the Welshman, who had worked as a blacksmith’s assistant before his rugby career, and his teammates triumphed 9-3.

But as significant as the game was in the overall history of the sport it failed to capture the public’s imagination.

Only 6,000 fans turned up, compared to the 29,000 who had just watched Wigan’s two Easter weekend games.

The match was played on a Tuesday afternoon and, after heavy rain, the ground was less than ideal.

And a cup tie between Broughton Rangers and Bradford also ended up being played on the same day, causing several changes to the international team line-up and detracting from its interest as a spectacle.

The cap, expected to fetch £3,000, goes under the hammer today in the Graham Budd Auctions’ sale of sporting memorabilia.