John Samuel 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...

 forward 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...

 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 played just one game for Wales, notable for being selected alongside his brother David Samuel

David Samuel (rugby player)

David Samuel was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea and international rugby for Wales. He is most notable as being a member of the very first Welsh Triple Crown winning team, in 1893....

Rugby career

Samuel first came to note as a rugby player when he represented first class team Swansea. In 1891, as part of the Home Nations Championship

1891 Home Nations Championship

The 1891 Home Nations Championship was the ninth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 3 January and 7 March...

, Samuel, along with his brother David

David Samuel (rugby player)

David Samuel was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea and international rugby for Wales. He is most notable as being a member of the very first Welsh Triple Crown winning team, in 1893....

 was selected to represent Wales against Ireland. The team on that day was mainly made up by players from Swansea and 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...

; Swansea provided Tom Deacon

Tom Deacon

Thomas 'Tom' Deacon was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Swansea and international rugby for Wales- Rugby career :...

, 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....

, the two Samuel brothers and another set of brothers 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...

. Both Ireland and Wales had lost the previous two games of the Championship, so the encounter would decide the team to finish bottom of the table. Played at home at 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...

's Stradey Park

Stradey Park

Stradey Park was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of seating and standing with a total capacity of 10,800...

, Wales won the game 6-4, with David Samuel scoring the only Welsh try of the game. Despite the win. Samuel was not reselected for Wales again though his brother received one final cap during the Triple Crown

Triple Crown (Rugby Union)

In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the four national teams of the British Isles who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three they win the...

 winning 1893 Home Nations Championship

1893 Home Nations Championship

The 1893 Home Nations Championship was the eleventh series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 17 January and 11 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales...

.