David Jones (rugby)

David Jones

Dai Jones in Wales jersey
Birth name	David Jones
Place of birth	Tynewydd, Wales
Place of death	Aberdare, Wales
Height	185.5 cm (6 ft 1.0 in)
Weight	98 kg (15 st 6 lb)
Occupation(s)	collier police officer landlord
Rugby league career
Position(s) Forwards Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1907-? Merthyr Tydfil RLFC () National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1908 1908 Wales Great Britain 2 2 (3) (0)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) ?-1902 1902-1906 1906-1907 ? ? Treherbert RFC Aberdare RFC Treherbert RFC Glamorgan Police RFC Glamorgan County RFC () National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1902-1906 Wales 13 (0)

David "Tarw" Jones (1881- 21 January 1933) (also known as Dai Jones) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and rugby league footballer. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks in a game considered one of the greatest in the history of rugby union. Jones is the only Welsh player to have been part of a team to have beaten the All Blacks in the union and league game and is the second dual-code international rugby player from the Northern Hemisphere.

David Jones gained his nickname Tarw (Welsh for bull) from his imposing stature; standing at 6’1’’ and weighing almost 16 stone. A collier from Aberaman who later became a policeman before becoming a collier once more, he played club rugby as a forward for Treherbert RFC and then later Aberdare, before switching back to Treherbert. In his later life he was caught in a scandal which saw him banned from rugby union and forced his switch to rugby league.

Jones was born in Tynewydd, a small village in the Rhondda Valley in 1881, to Griffiths Jones and his wife Catherine. Jones was the middle child of five, and like his father before him, became a coal miner.

Jones later managed to find employment outside the tough world of mining, becoming a police officer. Reports exist during his period as an officer which help to explain his unconventional character, both on and off the pitch. One story is told that while serving as a police officer in Treherbert he became annoyed with an inspector, Jones reportedly removed his tunic, grabbed hold of the inspector and forcibly ejected him from the station. Another occasion saw him disciplined by the police force for selling raffle tickets while still on duty.

After leaving professional rugby Jones became a publican and ran two pubs; the Eagle Hotel in Aberdare, and the Castle Hotel in Treherbert. He would later fight in World War I as a member of the Welsh Guards but was wounded badly at the Battle of the Somme, leaving injuries that affected his health throughout the rest of his life. In 1933 David Jones died in Aberdare, South Wales.