John 'Arthur' Jones 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 Cardiff Rugby Football Club

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...

. He was awarded just a single cap for Wales.

Personal life

Educated in Monmouth School

Monmouth School

Monmouth School is an HMC boys' boarding and day school in Monmouth, Monmouthshire in south east Wales. It was founded in 1614 by William Jones. It is run as a trust, the William Jones's Schools Foundation, by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Livery Companies...

, Jones became an Admiralty agent before becoming a colliery director. Jones began what was to become a long standing tradition between Welsh rugby and the coal mines, and was the first colliery employee to represent Wales, a list that would run to over a hundred members. Jones would spend his later life undertaking various duties, including serving as High Sheriff of Glamorgan

High Sheriff of Glamorgan

This page is a list of High Sheriffs of Glamorgan. Sheriffs of Glamorgan served under and were answerable to the independent Lords of Glamorgan until that lordship was merged into the crown. This is in contrast to sheriffs of the English shires who were from the earliest times officers of the crown...

 for 1918 and later governor of the University of South Wales and Monmouthshire

Cardiff University

Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...

.

Rugby career

Jones came to prominence as a rugby player while representing Cardiff. Jones was a founding member of the Cardiff club in 1876. In 1877, while only 20 years old, he became secretary of Cardiff RFC and was a member of the committee after that.

in 1883

1883 Home Nations Championship

The 1883 Home Nations Championship was the inaugural series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 16 December 1882 and 3 March 1883...

 Jones was selected to represent Wales as part of the Home Nations Championship

Six Nations Championship

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

. In the very first encounter between Scotland and Wales, Jones was part of a ten man pack, the only time Wales had ever used such a heavy forwards tactic. Under the captaincy of Charlie Lewis

Charles Lewis (rugby player)

Charles Prytherch Lewis was a Welsh international rugby union player, who won five caps between 1882 and 1884.-Life:...

, Jones was one of three new caps for Wales, the others being Newport's Horace Lyne

Horace Lyne

Horace Sampson Lyne MBE was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport Rugby Football Club. He won five caps for Wales and after retiring from playing rugby became the longest serving president of the Welsh Rugby Union...

 and Dr. John Griffin

John Griffin (rugby player)

John Griffin was an English doctor who became an international rugby union forward for Wales despite having no connections to the country.-Personal background:...

, a stand-in from Edinburgh University. Wales lost the game by three goals to one, and the next match saw Wales switch back to nine forwards and Jones was never selected for the national team again.