He was awarded the captaincy in 1889, by which time he was playing at centre, and led Wales to their first Home Nations Championship and Triple Crown titles in 1893; that tournament's match against England established Gould as a great player and captain.

The game, played in front of 17,000 supporters at Rodney Parade, was Gould's 18th as Wales captain – a record eventually broken by Ieuan Evans in 1994.

[18] Gould, who was returning from a youth match, saw Butcher outside the missing fullback's home and approached the groundsman to discover that the player was at a funeral.

[17] During this time he entered open athletic meets and played for various English rugby teams including the Southampton Trojans, and from 1887 was a regular member of the London side Richmond.

[23] In June 1890 Gould left Britain to complete a works contract in the West Indies, but returned to Newport in time for the 1891–92 season.

[29] In addition to Gould, the Middlesex backline of the time regularly fielded a number of English and Scottish internationals – this earned the side the sarcastic nickname "the Imperial team".

[18] Newport were reluctant to adopt this style of play, mainly due to Gould's excellent kicking and covering abilities, which allowed the club to continue with the advantage of the extra forward.

[44] Due to work commitments, Gould only played one of the two Wales games of the 1888 Home Nations Championship,[h] in the country's first victory over Scotland, thanks to a single try from Thomas Pryce-Jenkins.

[39] Gould then missed the first Welsh international against an overseas touring side, when the New Zealand Natives were beaten at St. Helen's in Swansea, and was still absent two months later for the opening game of the 1889 Championship.

[1] Gould appeared in Wales' three matches of the 1890 Home Nations Championship where he partnered Dickie Garrett, a coal tipper who played for Penarth, at centre.

The campaign ended in a disappointing away draw with Ireland, which saw the introduction of Tom Graham, a Newport forward who would become Gould's club captain during the 1891–92 "invincible" season.

[52] Gould missed the entire 1891 campaign as he and his brother Bob had travelled to the West Indies to conduct civil engineering work.

[61] Then Welsh forward Charles Nicholl broke through a line-out with the ball, transferred it to Hannan, who passed to Gould at the halfway line.

A near identical move resulted in Conway Rees then releasing Cardiff wing Norman Biggs who scored with a run from the half-way line, though this time the conversion missed.

[58] At the final whistle the pitch was invaded by Welsh fans and Gould was carried shoulder-high back to the Angel Hotel, cheered all the way.

[65] This left the final encounter with Ireland, played at Stradey Park in Llanelli, as the deciding match for a Welsh Triple Crown.

Despite an unconvincing Welsh display, an enthusiastic crowd of 20,000 watched their country win the game and with it the title, decided by a single try from Bert Gould.

[68] Before the game, Gould instructed his forwards to heel the ball from the scrums swiftly, so it would get to the backs quickly and allow them to run at the English.

Frank Hill decided that this was the wrong option and put all his might into wheeling the scrums instead, which worked against the efforts of Jim Hannan, who was trying to follow his captain's wishes.

[68] In the next match Gould was partnered by Dai Fitzgerald in a win over Scotland, but was unavailable for the encounter with Ireland and was replaced by Jack Elliott from Cardiff RFC.

[74] By now Gould was a household name throughout Britain, as much due to his personality and good looks as his brilliant centre play;[75] a testimonial fund had been started with contributions being made by the public.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) complained and the IRFB reacted by informing the WFU that only a plate up to the value of a hundred pounds sterling could be given to Gould, and that the remaining funds should be donated to charity;[80] otherwise Wales would lose their international fixtures.

[79] In a move that was described as an act of hurt pride by social historian David Smith, but also as a manoeuvre to appease the Welsh supporters, in February 1897 the WFU wrote to the IRFB and withdrew their membership.

Many civic and sporting worthies were in attendance to witness the WFU president Sir John Llewellyn present Gould with the title deeds of a gift house.

[82] The 250 guests, including David A. Thomas,[83] were joined by a reed and string orchestra, the band of the Fourth Battalion of the South Wales Borderers, and galleries packed by members of the public.

[86] The compromise prevented a long term split in the sport, and by 1901 the IRFB added laws to the game banning professionalism to clarify their authority on the issue.

He was still a very popular figure and was followed during his work by fans; his image was still worth money, appearing on merchandise such as cigarette cards and matchboxes.

[1][3] His funeral was reported as the biggest ever seen in Wales up to that time; it was surpassed three decades later by that of the former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

[1] Donations for the memorial, which totalled £1,525, were received from all over the world, and several matches were staged to raise funds, including a fixture between Newport and Cardiff.

[3] He set several long-standing records for his country, including captaining Wales 18 times, a number eventually surpassed by Ieuan Evans in 1994.