Harry Bowen (rugby)
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| Full name | David Henry Bowen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 4 May 1864 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Llanelli, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 17 August 1913 (aged 49) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Bynea, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | teacher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Full back | ||
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| Amateur team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1880–1884 1884 1884–1889 |
Llanelli RFC Dewsbury Llanelli RFC |
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| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1882–1887 | Wales | 4 | (0) |
David Henry "Harry" Bowen (4 May 1864 – 17 August 1913) was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli and international rugby for Wales. After his retirement from playing he became a rugby administrator and referee. He is best remembered as a popular Llanelli captain, who scored the winning dropped goal against the 1888 touring New Zealand Māori.
Bowen joined Llanelli at the age of 15 and quickly became a club favourite. He was first selected to represent Wales as part of the 1883 Home Nations Championship against England in the inaugural game of the new competition. Under the captaincy of Charles Lewis, Bowen was one of three Llanelli players chosen for the game, and along with team-mates Alfred Cattell and Thomas Judson became the first player to represent Llanelli at international level. The game was a one sided affair, with England victorious, though the Welsh play was of a higher standard than the first encounter between the teams. The next game of the tournament was an away match to Scotland, and Wales experimented with one full-back player for the first time. Bowen was one of the full-backs, paired for the England game with captain Lewis, the selectors favoured Lewis, and Bowen was dropped.
In 1884 Bowen was part of the Llanelli squad which reached the final of the 1884 South Wales Challenge Cup, facing Newport. Played at Neath, Llanelli beat Newport by one try to nil. In 1886 the same two teams met each other again in the final of the same competition, this time Bowen was captain of Llanelli, having been given the position on the retirement mid-season of Frederick Margrave. When Llanelli were again victorious, their return to the town was celebrated by the locals who greeted them with thousands of rockets and coloured lights. 'Touchstone', the Western Mail's sporting correspondent suggested that Bowen should be "memorialized in a tinplate statue".
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