Jack Wetter DCM 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...

 player who played club rugby predominantly for Newport. He was captain for both his club and country and earned 10 caps 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...

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Wetter's rugby career was disrupted by the outbreak of World War I, in which he served. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal

Distinguished Conduct Medal

The Distinguished Conduct Medal was an extremely high level award for bravery. It was a second level military decoration awarded to other ranks of the British Army and formerly also to non-commissioned personnel of other Commonwealth countries.The medal was instituted in 1854, during the Crimean...

 during the conflict.

Rugby career

After playing club rugby for several lower level teams Wetter was successful at a trial for Newport, and in 1912 he represented the team against Plymouth. Wetter stayed with the club until 1925, and in the 1923/24 season, in which Newport were unbeaten, he captained the team. He also played for two Newport teams against international opposition; the 1912 touring South Africans

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

 and the 1924 touring All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

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Wetter made his debut for Wales against Scotland on 7 February 1914, in which he scored his first international try and Wales ran out winners 24-5. It was a rough game, in which, Scotland captain David Bain quoted, "The dirtier side won". Wetter would earn 10 caps in total for Wales, stretched either side of the War, and in the last three was awarded the captaincy. He scored a total of four international tries and a single conversion.

When Wetter took to the pitch for his final game for Wales in 1924, he was 36 years and one month old, the oldest Welsh player to take the position at centre. This record would stand for 77 years, until beaten by Neath's

Neath RFC

Neath Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The first team is known as the Welsh All Blacks because of the team colours: black with only a white cross pattée as an emblem...

 Allan Bateman

Allan Bateman

Allan Glen Bateman is a Welsh former rugby union and rugby league player, a dual-code rugby international centre who represented the British Lions at rugby union and Great Britain at rugby league....

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External links

• International caps and honours photo of some of Wetter's international caps