Owen James 'Jem' Evans 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...

 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 Cardiff

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...

 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...

. Evans was one of the earliest half-backs to play for Wales and was awarded four caps between 1887 and 1888, though never with the same partner.

Rugby career

Evans was first selected for Wales in the opening game of the 1887 Home Nations Championship

1887 Home Nations Championship

The 1887 Home Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 8 January and 12 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales....

, played in Llanelli

Llanelli

Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...

 against the English team. Evans was partnered with team captain and Newport player Charlie Newman

Charlie Newman

Charlie Newman was a Welsh international three-quarter who played club rugby for Newport. He was awarded ten caps for Wales and captained the team on six occasions. An original member of the Newport squad he captained the team in the 1882/83 season.-Personal life:Newman was born Newport in 1857 to...

. The Welsh team held England to a nil - nil draw, their best result to that date, and Evans was reselected for the next game of the Championship, away to Scotland. On this occasion, Evans was partnered with new cap George Bowen

George Bowen (rugby player)

George Einon Bowen was a Welsh international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Swansea and Llanelli. Bowen won four caps for Wales and also played cricket for Glamorgan. Later in his life he became the Mayor of Kidwelly.Bowen was first selected for Wales on 26 February 1887 in a...

 of 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...

, the Welsh captaincy going to Bob Gould

Bob Gould (rugby player)

Bob Gould was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport Rugby Football Club. He won 11 caps for Wales and captained them for one match...

. The match was a humiliation for Wales, with Scotland running in 12 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...

 without reply. The Welsh selectors reacted with massive restructuring of the back positions, with only Arthur 'Monkey' Gould keeping his place. Bowen and Evans were replaced by John Goulstone Lewis

John Goulstone Lewis

John "Johnny" Goulstone Lewis was a Welsh international rugby union half-back who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales...

 and 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...

.

The next season Evans was back in favour, and was partnered with Cardiff team-mate Stadden, to face Scotland as part of the 1888 Championship

1888 Home Nations Championship

The 1888 Home Nations Championship was the sixth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Three matches were played between 4 February and 10 March. It was contested by Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England was excluded from the Championship due to their refusal to join the...

. Wales beat Scotland, a historic first victory over the Scots, thanks to a single try from Thomas Pryce-Jenkins

Thomas Pryce-Jenkins

Dr. Thomas John Pryce-Jenkins was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for London Welsh and county rugby for Middlesex...

. Evans final international game was the second and last Welsh game of the 1888 Championship. Played away at Lansdowne Road

Lansdowne Road

Lansdowne Road was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union that has been the location of a number of sports stadiums. It was used primarily for rugby union and for association football matches as well as some music concerts...

 against Ireland, Evans was linked up with yet another new half-back pairing, 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:...

. An underperforming Wales lost the match and Evans did not represent his country again.