Quentin Dick Kedzlie was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

-born 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 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...

. In his later life he became the chairman of the South Wales Baseball Association.

Rugby career

Kedzlie played his entire club rugby career with Cardiff, representing his team through seven seasons during 1881 to 1892. He played in three notable games during his career with Cardiff, two at international level and one for his club.

On 4 February 1888, Kedzlie was selected to represent Wales in the opening game of the Home Nations 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...

, played at Rodney Parade

Rodney Parade

Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, south Wales. Located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre it is primarily used for rugby matches and is the home ground of Newport RFC and the Newport Gwent Dragons regional team.-History:...

 against Scotland. Kedzlie was one of five new caps brought into the Welsh pack for the game, which was captained by Newport's Tom Clapp

Tom Clapp

Tom Clapp was an English-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and Nantyglo RFC. He won 14 caps for Wales and captained the team on three occasions...

. Wales won the game through a single try

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...

, from London Welsh back Tom 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...

. Kedzlie was reselected for the second and last game of the 1888 Championship, travelling to 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...

, Dublin to face Ireland. The selectors kept faith in the forwards, fielding an unchanged pack for the first time in Welsh rugby history. Wales lost the game and Kedzlie did not represent the country again.

Although his international career was now over, Kedzlie played his part in another landmark game, when he was chosen to play for Cardiff against the touring 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...

. Although having lost to 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 Wales, the Māori team had been able to defeat both 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 Newport over the past five days. After an early try from Norman Biggs

Norman Biggs

Norman Witchell Biggs was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Cardiff and county rugby for Glamorgan. Both Biggs and his brother Selwyn played international rugby for Wales, though they never played together in the same match for Wales...

, Cardiff won the forward battle on a slow and wet pitch, winning the game by a goal.

His great nephew Bill Kedzlie kept up the family tradition by playing rugby for the RAF.

Sources