Griffith 'Giotto' Griffiths (15 September 1864 – 22 July 1938) 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...

 half-back who played club rugby for Llanelli

Llanelli RFC

Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent...

 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...

.

Rugby career

Griffiths came to note as a rugby player when playing for club team Llanelli. In 1888 Griffiths was part of the Llanelli squad who faced the first touring Southern Hemisphere rugby team, the New Zealand Natives

1888-1889 New Zealand Native football team

The 1888–1889 New Zealand Native football team was a New Zealand football team that toured Britain, Australia and New Zealand in 1888 and 1889. The team was composed mainly of players of Māori ancestry, although several Pakeha were included in the squad. The tour was a private endeavour, and was...

. Griffiths was constant in rushes against the Maoris, and the game was decided by a single long range dropped goal from Llanelli's Harry Bowen

Harry Bowen

David Henry "Harry" Bowen was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales...

. Griffiths was later selected for the Welsh national team, partnered with Newport's Charlie Thomas

Charlie Thomas (rugby player)

Charles 'Charlie' Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union utility player who played club rugby for Newport and invitational rugby for the Barbarians. Thomas won nine caps for Wales.-Rugby career:...

, in a match against Ireland as part of the 1889 Home Nations Championship

1889 Home Nations Championship

The 1889 Home Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Three matches were played between 2 February and 2 March. It was contested by Ireland, Scotland and Wales...

. The Welsh team on that day included four Llanelli players, Griffith's team-mates being Tom Morgan

Tom Morgan (rugby player)

Tom Morgan was a Welsh international rugby union centre who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales...

, Dan Griffiths

Dan Griffiths

Daniel 'Dan' Griffiths was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales. Morgan was a collier by profession.-Rugby career:...

 and Ned Roberts

Ned Roberts

Edward 'Ned' John Roberts was a Welsh international rugby union fullback who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales.-Rugby career:...

, all four playing their final international match. The game was played at St. Helen's and the Wales team was captained for the first time by rugby superstar Arthur 'Monkey' Gould. Wales lost the game by two tries

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

 to nil and in the next game Griffiths was replaced by William Stadden

William Stadden

William James Wood "Buller" Stadden was a Welsh international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Cardiff and Dewsbury. Stadden won eight caps for Wales over a period of seven years and is most remembered for scoring the winning try in 1890 to give Wales their first victory over England...

, and never represented his country again.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union)

• Ireland
  Ireland national rugby union team
  The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
  
  1889