Legendary Christ College Brecon Pupils

Pupils and staff at Christ College Brecon will be taking an even keener interest as they watch the up and coming Wales Vs New Zealand match on 5 November.

The pupils will be watching the 100th anniversary of the match and remembering at the same time four Old Breconians who were on the winning team on that historical day.

On Saturday 16 December 1905, the first ever Wales Vs New Zealand match took place at the Cardiff Arms Park before 47,000 spectators and saw Wales come out victorious with a 3-0 win.

In this first ever match between the two countries, four Christ College Brecon pupils, winger Willie Llewellyn, A. F. Harding, ET Morgan and J.F. Williams played on the triumphant side.

Willie Llewellyn captained Christ College and played for Llwynypia, a powerful club of the time, and London Welsh. He was 5’8 and 11 stone, and in 1897/98 scored 50 tries in senior rugby. In his first international appearance, against England in 1899, he scored four tries.

A. F. Harding played for London Welsh and Cardiff, having succeeded Llewellyn as captain of Christ College. He too won 20 caps, and was regarded by all as “quick about the field and a good kicker of the ball.”

J. F. Williams, also of London Welsh, was capped four times and was said to “pick up a ball like a half, pass it like a centre and run like a wing.”

E T Morgan, who scored the winning try in 1905 went on to study medicine and his descendents continue to be closely connected with Christ College, Brecon.

Eighteen Old Breconians have been capped by Wales at Senior level, 16 of them between 1881 and 1929. It took 51 years before another was selected, Robert Ackerman (Newport and London Welsh) who won 22 caps between 1980 and 1985, and more recently, Andrew Lewis (Cardiff), who won 29 caps between 1996 and 2002.

Phillip Jones, Christ College Headmaster said: “On a special occasion like this it is reasonable to indulge in a moment or two of nostalgia. I hope the 2005 fixture gives cause to live as long in the memory as the 1905 match. More importantly, rugby and an indomitable spirit that would have been familiar to the players from Christ College a century ago lives on in the school to this day.”

At the beginning of the 21st Century, Christ College Brecon continues to develop international athletes, but not only on the rugby field. Some 40 internationals have been produced in the last five years in sports such as cricket, athletics, and since becoming co-educational in 1995, hockey and netball. The recent Hubert Jones Legacy means that Christ College Brecon is able to offer generous scholarships to potential sports scientists who are looking to combine their outstanding sporting talents with developing their knowledge of the sciences … a development that the class of 1905 would certainly approve of!