Daniel "Dan" Jones was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 scrum-half who played club rugby for Aberavon

Aberavon RFC

Aberavon RFC is a rugby union club located in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, although the club's name refers to the older settlement of Aberavon which lies on the western side of the town...

 and international rugby for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

. He is notable as being the first player to represent Aberavon at international level. Jones was a tinplate furnaceman by occupation and lived in Taibach all his life.

Rugby career

Evans first played club rugby for his hometown club of Taibach

Taibach RFC

Taibach Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Taibach near Port Talbot in Wales, UK. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is also a feeder club for the Ospreys....

, before switching to Aberavon. Although Aberavon was an improving club it was still not a fashionable club to play for and had yet to provide an international player. In 1897 as part of the Home Nations Championship

1897 Home Nations Championship

The 1897 Home Nations Championship was the fifteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Four matches were played between 9 January and 13 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales...

 Jones made history for the club by being chosen to represent Wales. The Welsh team had being experiencing several years of unstable partnerships at half-back, and the opening match of the 1897 Championship was no exception, with Jones brought in with veteran player Selwyn Biggs

Selwyn Biggs

Selwyn Hanam Biggs was a Welsh international rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for Cardiff and county rugby for Glamorgan. Both Biggs and his brother Norman played international rugby for Wales, though they never played in the same match for Wales together. Biggs was described at the time...

 as replacements for Llewellyn Lloyd

Llewellyn Lloyd

George Llewellyn Lloyd was a Welsh international half-back who played club rugby for Newport and county rugby with Kent. He won 12 caps for Wales and captained the team on one occasion against Scotland....

 and Fred Parfitt

Fred Parfitt

Frederick 'Fred' Charles Parfitt was a Welsh international rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby for Newport, regional rugby for Somerset and was capped nine times for Wales...

. The previous season's encounter with England had ended in a humiliating loss for Wales, but with a much changed team, the Welsh were far more competitive in the 1897 game. Wales beat England 11-0, with Jones scoring one of three Welsh tries, the other two coming from Arthur Boucher

Arthur Boucher

Arthur Boucher was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport. Boucher was an adaptable player, who although selected mainly as a forward, often played at centre. He was strong, quick for his position and passed well on the run...

 and Tom Pearson

Tom Pearson (rugby player)

Thomas William Rory Pearson was a Welsh international wing who played club rugby for Cardiff and Newport and county rugby with Middlesex. He won 13 caps for Wales and captained the team on one occasion, against England. Pearson was an all-round sportsman, representing Wales not only in rugby, but...

. Jones may have been selected for further games that season, but due to the Gould Affair, Wales left the International Rugby Board

International Rugby Board

The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

 and could not play in any further international games. By the time Wales were reinstated, Jones' place had been taken by Cardiff's

Cardiff RFC

Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...

 Jack Elliott

Jack Elliott (rugby player)

John "Jack" Elliott was a Welsh rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby for Cardiff and international rugby for Wales, winning three caps....

, and Jones did not represent his country again.