With the coming of industrialisation and the railways, rugby too was spread as workers from the main cities brought the game to the new steel and coal towns of south Wales.

The team was mainly made up of ex-Cambridge and Oxford university graduates and the selection was heavily criticised in the local press after the crushing defeat by England.

Wales had already won the Triple Crown in 1893, but between 1900 and 1914 the team would win the trophy on six occasions, and with France joining the tournament (unofficially in 1908 and 1909) three Grand Slams.

In the early 1900s, rugby was seen as a wicked temptation to the young men of the mining and steel communities, leading to violence and drink,[15] and the valley areas in particular were part of a strong Nonconformist Baptist movement.

Far worse was to follow during the conflict of World War I when many teams lost members, including Welsh internationals like Charlie Pritchard[19] and Johnny Williams.

Exceptional players lost to the league game included Jim Sullivan of Cardiff, William Absalom of Abercarn and Emlyn Jenkins of Treorchy.

This success would later be reflected in the growing number of Llanelli players that would represent their country in the 1920s,[28] including Albert Jenkins, Ivor Jones and Archie Skym.

Apart from a few sporadic victories from the national team, there appeared little to cheer about in the 1920s for Welsh rugby at club or country level; but the seeds of recovery were being planted during the same decade.

[29] Founded by Dr R Chalke, head of Porth Secondary School with WRU members Horace Lyne as president and Eric Evans as secretary.

[29] Its aim was to promote rugby at school level in an attempt to regain 'the glorious days of Gwyn Nicholls, Willie Llewellyn and Dr E.T.

In April 1923, at the Arms Park, Wales played their first secondary schools fixture led by future international Watcyn Thomas, who would progress to captain the first Welsh University XV in 1926.

From a statistical point of view, the Welsh national team appeared to be winning roughly the same number of games throughout the 1930s as the poor 1920s period, but Wales were actually improving.

Now dubbed the 'Twickenham bogey', it took the self confidence of Cardiff's Ronnie Boon to break the losing streak as he scored a try and a drop goal to take the match 7-3.

Wales played host to two touring Southern Hemisphere teams in the 1930s, first came Bennie Osler's South Africa followed by Jack Manchester's All Blacks.

After winning the opening three English county matches and then beating a joint Abertillery and Cross Keys the All Blacks were showing the same form shown in their first two tours, but then stumbled against Swansea.

During the game Merv Corner could not contain the attacking bursts from Tanner, the New Zealand flankers were drawn in which in turned allowed Davies the freedom to run which Claude Davey finished off with two tries.

Success was gained in the Five Nations Championship, Wales supplied many players to the ranks of the British Lions and New Zealand was beaten for the last time that century.

During the 1955 Five Nations Championship, the Scotland v. Wales match was televised live; at the same time an Aberavon v. Abertillery game which would normally draw a crowd of 4000 was unable to muster 400.

This created a situation whereby rugby in Wales was gaining in popularity due to the number of people who could now watch the international matches, but support at club level declined.

The tournament saw the emergence of Welsh record-breaking player Ken Jones as a world class wing; who is most remembered for his late try against the 1953 touring New Zealand team.

Harsh economic times in the eighties meant that players such as Jonathan Davies and Scott Gibbs were tempted to 'go North' to play professional rugby league in order to earn a living.

[47] Such proposals face widespread opposition from sections of supporters whose local loyalties would prevent them from travelling to traditionally 'rival' grounds to follow their team, standing in the terraces with their bitter rivals.

Yet opponents of the proposal have pointed to the struggles of the Scottish rugby union team in test fixtures since switching to a two-region model dominated by Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

[49] The WRU have proposed the resulting space then be filled by a North Wales side taking the place of Conwy-based, semi professional RGC 1404.

[52] Managing director Andrew Millward had described the struggle, involving year long budget cuts and structural flaws in the Welsh rugby system,[53] as leaving Wales unable to compete with rivals IRFU and FRR.

Blues supporters also point to the fierce battle their side won to remain in their traditional Cardiff RFC colours and name back in 2003, and are unwilling to adopt a new identity.

Although difficult to prove popularity, two events that took place early in the history of Welsh rugby illustrate its growing influence on the people of Wales.

One was a jewelers which had roller shutters, the other was the chemist shop owned by Willie Llewellyn, which despite the chaos of the events was spared due to his services to Wales on the playing field.

[59] The Welsh valleys north of Cardiff produced so many quality number tens[citation needed] that it was often referred to as 'The Outside Half Factory' immortalised in a song by Max Boyce.

Boyce's humour refers to rugby union very often and he has written many songs about the trials and tribulations of following the game as a fan e.g. 'Asso Asso Yogoshi', 'The Scottish Trip', 'Hymns and Arias'.