"NOTES"
"WELCOME BACK DAVID!"
"by JACK DAVIS"
"Today we are delighted to welcome back to the team our captain, David Watkins, following a long line of distinguished Newport players who did so well on earlier tours, played brilliantly and consistently for the British Lions in Australia and New Zealand and we are immensely proud of him."
"When Blackheath walloped invincible Newport to the tune of four goals and nine points without the response even of a consolation try or goal, they made new history and a record which (though the event was 87 years ago) has never been challenged since. But it also started a unique friendship between two of the leading clubs of England and Wales which has grown warmer through the years."
"It is of little significance now that that reverse for Newport came after four seasons during which they had not tasted a single defeat. What is important is that Blackheath and Newport, by that meeting in 1879, pioneered all the thousands of England-Wales club clashes that have occurred since, and all that they have meant to the game."
"Blackheath were founder members of the Rugby Football Union (England) long before the Welsh Union was formed and according to some historians they are, indeed, the oldest rugby club in England. Some claim Guy's Hospital beat them in that respect."
"Newport and Blackheath take joint pride in at least four notable players who have played with distinction for both clubs. Colonel J. E. C. Partridge must take pride of place, for that irrepressible character included a year of captaincy of Blackheath in his extraordinary career. Then there were Ernie Hammett, who played regularly for the club after leaving Newport, Cyril Bates and L. W. Haslett."
"But Blackheath have (without the assistance of Newport!) produced many of the greatest players the game has known. At one time they had nine men in an England team. Other famous names occur readily, like W. P. Carpmael, founder of the Barbarians, B. C. Hartley, C. N. Lowe, C. H. Pillman (the original wing forward), and Carl Aarvold, now a famous judge."