Played in a snowstorm, this match was reported in the Western Mail of 27th December 1895 as follows:-
"SOUTH OF SCOTLAND V. NEWPORT"
"A holiday crowd of 10,000 people assembled on the Newport enclosure on Thursday afternoon to witness the encounter between Newport and a team representative of the South of Scotland. The match was played in a blinding snowstorm. The same team as that which played so brilliantly against Blackheath on Saturday last was chosen to represent Newport, but when the players took the field it was seen that there were several changes. Behind the pack Henshaw, of the Midland Counties, took Dauncey's place at three-quarter; and Hannan partnered Parfitt, instead of Ll. Lloyd. Teams:- South of Scotland: Back, Lawson; three-quarter backs, Sharp., Howie, Yule, and Madison; half-backs, M. Elliott and S. McKie; forwards, A. Wood, Ramage, Wilson, McLean, Robson, Smith, Moffat, and Graham. Newport: Back, R. L. Thomas; three-quarter backs, A. J. Gouls, A. W. Boucher, T. W. Pearson, and Henshaw; half-backs, F. C. Parfitt and Hannan; forwards, H. Packer, W. Groves, W. Watts, A. Sawtell, G. Jones, T. Newcombe, W. Parsons, and J. Jenkins. Referee, Mr. W. M. Douglas. Play was started by Newport and was taken almost immediately to the visitors' 25, and after a little loose play the Newport three-quarter line got in motion, and Pearson, the last recipient, became dangerous. He cleared the opposing three-quarters, but, instead of dodging the full back, tried his old punting trick. He failed to raise the ball, however, and Lawson, gathering, kicked the ball to touch. Newport kept the visitors penned, and through Henshaw missing a transfer from Arthur Gould a chance was lost. Then the Scotsmen broke away again and making the most of a miss by Arthur Gould, reached the Newport line, and a minor resulted. The kick-out brought relief to Newport, who quickly reached the visitors' line. From a scrimmage Jenkins gathered and rushed over with a try, which Boucher just failed to convert. A minute or two later the Newport quartette got in motion, and some pretty exchanges took play to the visitors' line. Here Gould passed to Henshaw, who, running strongly, managed to shake off a couple of opponents, and then returned the leather to Arthur. He handed to one of the forwards, who in turn yielded possession to Boucher. The Newport skipper ran twenty yards, and then gave to Pearson, who struggled over, amid much enthusiasm. Boucher's kick, although a magnificent one, just failed. Half-time score:-"
"Newport - Two tries, one minor.
South of Scotland - One minor."
"After a very short interval the visitors re-started, and nothing of moment occurred during the first few minutes of the second half. Eventually, however, Newport got away in splendid style, and a score was only just lost through Wallace Watts kicking too hard. A minor resulted. Both ends were visited in turn, but Newport were having much the best of the game. From a scrimmage in front of the visitors' goal, Arthur Gould got possession, and succeeded in dropping one of his inimitable goals - a feat which was greatly appreciated by the spectators. Then Arthur Gould performed another smart bit of play. Receiving the ball when in the Newport half, he ran within a yard of the visitors' line before he was brought down by Lawson, who throughout the match had been playing a safe, all-round game. The Scotsmen got away again, and Yule put in a magnificent run, but was smartly tackled by Dicky Thomas. Then Pearson retaliated, and cleared all his opponents, with the exception of Lawson. When a yard from the visiting custodian, he again attempted his punting dodge, but the ball was slippery, and he failed to lift it. Shortly afterwards time was called, with the result:-"
"Newport - One dropped goal, two tries, two minors.
South of Scotland - One minor."
"REMARKS"
"Notwithstanding the fact that the game was played in a heavy snowstorm - a snowstorm which never once showed the slightest sign of stopping - there was much in it of interest, and holidaymakers who had anticipated that the match would be one of the most pleasant features of their holidays were not altogether disappointed. Although the ball speedily became wet and slippery and the hands of the players became numbed with the cold, yet there was at times some very pretty passing amongst the Newport three-quarters. The visitors showed little or no combination, but they were remarkably good in dribbling, and their tackling was keen and vigorous. They played with plenty of dash and resolution, and it was only due to sheer good tackling on the part of Newport's full back that they were prevented from scoring. The way R. L. Thomas brought Yule down was a treat to witness. Newport should have scored at least twice more than they did. Arthur Gould was the best man on the field. He showed wonderful resource and trickiness, kicked well, tackled vigorously, and both took and gave his passes with unerring judgement, whilst the goal which he dropped was a beauty. Henshaw played a very useful game, and showed plenty of dash. Boucher was a trifle slow, and Pearson several times erred in judgement, but both of them did some good work occasionally. Parfitt was not up to his usual form, but Hannan did well. Both full backs played capitally, but in the other departments the Scotsmen were outclassed by the homesters."