At the start of the match the home crowd were fairly hostile towards the Welsh team due to fans of both Swansea and Llanelli feeling slighted by the lack of selection of their players . Four teams dominated Welsh international selection at the time , and out of the 15 @-@ man team only William Towers and William Bowen of Swansea and Dan Griffiths of Llanelli had been selected . The match was played in Swansea , and the lack of local players may have contributed to a poor crowd , with gate receipts of only £ 120 recorded . The crowd 's hostility impacted on the players , and debutant Norman Biggs was " palpably nervous " at the start of the match . Biggs , aged 18 years and 49 days , became the youngest Welsh international player – a record he held until the debut of Tom Prydie in 2010 . Despite the heckles aimed primarily at Biggs , Charlie Arthur and George Thomas , the Welsh team produced an excellent effort , especially from the forwards .