Fred Scrine 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 Swansea

Swansea RFC

Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. Its home ground is St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea. The team is sometimes known as The Whites because of the primary colour of the team strip...

. Scrine's style of play was as a fast spoiling player and was first capped 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...

 in 1899 against England.

Rugby career

Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

 born, Scrine played most of his rugby for first class team Swansea Rugby Football Club. He was selected to play for Wales in the 1899 Home Nations Championship

1899 Home Nations Championship

The 1899 Home Nations Championship was the seventeenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 5 January and 18 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales....

, and was selected alongside fellow Swansea players Billy Bancroft

Billy Bancroft

Billy Bancroft was a Welsh international fullback who played club rugby for Swansea and a county cricketer for Glamorgan, becoming their first professional player in 1895....

, Tom Parker

Tom Parker (rugby player)

Tom Parker was a Welsh international rugby union flanker who played club rugby for Swansea. Parker made his debut for Swansea in 1913 and captained his club in the 1920/21 season Parker would play 15 times for Wales, seven of them as captain...

 and the 'Curly haired marmasets', David

David James (rugby player)

David James was a Welsh international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Swansea. While playing with Swansea, James was paired with his brother, Evan James and together they were nicknamed the 'Swansea gems' and the 'Curly haired marmasets'.- Rugby career :James was first capped for...

 and Evan James

Evan James (rugby player)

Evan James was a Welsh rugby half back who played club rugby for Swansea under the rugby union code, and professional rugby league for Broughton Rangers. While playing with Swansea, James was paired with his brother, David James and together they were nicknamed the 'Swansea gems' and the 'Curly...

. In the first international at Swansea's ground, St Helens

St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground

St. Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground is a spectator venue in Swansea, Wales. It is used for both rugby and cricket.It is owned and operated by the City and County of Swansea council and is also used to host the local annual Guy Fawkes night fireworks display.-History:Since the ground opened in...

, for four years Wales beat England with some ease. Scrine had a solid game and set up Willie Llewellyn

Willie Llewellyn

William Morris "Willie" Llewellyn was a Welsh international rugby union player. He captained Wales in 1905 and London Welsh in 1902. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks, toured with the British Isles to Australasia in 1904 and won three Triple Crown...

 for his third try during the game. Scrine was back two months later in the same tournament, but this time against Scotland. The Scottish won 21-10, and Scrine was not recalled for the final match against Ireland. He would get his day against the Irish two years later when selected again for a game at St Helens. Wales won the game, but Scrine was not selected again, as a new wave of exciting players jostled for selection.

In 1905 Scrine was part of the Swansea team to face the Original All Blacks, and scored a try against the tourist, though the All Blacks won through 4-3.

In 1906, Scrine was part of a players' revolt at his club side Swansea, over the nature of professionalism, and managed to change the club rules. Scrine would later clash with the WRU in 1907, when as part of an investigation into professionalism at Aberdare

Aberdare RFC

Aberdare Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in the town Aberdare in South Wales. Aberdare RFC plays in the Welsh Rugby Union Division Three South East league and is a feeder club for the Cardiff Blues.-Club history:...

 and Treorchy

Treorchy RFC

Treorchy Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the village of Treorchy, in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. They formed in 1886 and by 1891 were a strong voice in the Welsh Football Union and were playing in the Rhondda Division...

, Scrine was temporarily suspended for breaking union payment laws.