Samuel "Sam" Ramsey 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 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 Treorchy

Treorchy RFC

Treorchy Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the village of Treorchy, in the Rhondda Valley, Wales. They formed in 1886 and by 1891 were a strong voice in the Welsh Football Union and were playing in the Rhondda Division...

 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...

. Ramsey is noted as being one of the first 'Rhondda forwards', impact players selected by the Welsh Rugby Union

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

 to not only take, but also hand out physical abuse.

Rugby career

Although born in Scotland, Ramsey moved to the Rhondda Valley

Rhondda

Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...

 in Wales

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...

 where he became a collier during the industrial growth of the area in the late Victorian period. Ramsey joined local team Treorchy in the early 1890s and in the 1892/93 season was made team captain, holding the captaincy the next season too. In 1896 became the first 'Rhondda forward' when he was selected to represent Wales as part of the 1896 Home Nations Championship

1896 Home Nations Championship

The 1896 Home Nations Championship was the fourteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 4 January and 14 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...

 in an away game to England. Ramsey was brought in to replace Jim Hannan

Jim Hannan (rugby player)

Jim Hannan was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby for Newport. A strong tactical forward his scrummaging work was excellent and could pivot the whole scrum around him....

 in an aging Welsh pack, under the captaincy of Arthur Gould. The game was disastrous for Wales, with England running in seven 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 selectors reacted by replacing six of the Welsh pack for the next game, including five new caps; Ramsey was one of those replaced.

Surprisingly, Ramsey was reselected eight years later for his second and final game, another encounter with England, this time as part of the 1904 Home Nations Championship

1904 Home Nations Championship

The 1904 Home Nations Championship was the twenty-second series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 9 January and 19 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...

. Ramsey was a temporary replacement for one of the most notable 'Rhondda forwards', Dai 'Tarw' Jones, another collier, who played club rugby for Treherbert

Treherbert RFC

Treherbert Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Tynewydd in the Rhondda Valley. Treherbert RFC play home games in red shirts with black shorts and black socks...

. The Welsh team for the match against England, contained many greats of the Welsh game, including Teddy Morgan

Teddy Morgan

Edward "Teddy" Morgan was a Welsh international rugby union player. He was a member of the winning Wales team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks and is remembered for scoring the winning try...

, Rhys Gabe

Rhys Gabe

Rhys Thomas "Rusty" Gabe born as Rees Thomas Gape, was a Welsh rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli, London Welsh and Cardiff and gained 24 caps for Wales, mainly as a centre.-Rugby career:...

 and Gwyn Nicholls

Gwyn Nicholls

Erith Gwyn Nicholls was a Welsh rugby union player who gained 24 caps for Wales as a centre. Nicholls was known as the "Prince of Threequarters"....

. The Welsh team should have been victorious, but were hampered by poor officiating from the referee. The match ended in a 14–all draw, but the next match Ramsey was replaced by Edwin Thomas Maynard

Edwin Thomas Maynard

Edwin Thomas Maynard known as Edwin Thomas or "Beddoe" Thomas was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Newport RFC...

, and never represented his country again.