Archie Skym

Archie Skym (12 July 1906^[2] – 15 June 1970) was an international rugby union player for Wales and played club rugby for Llanelli and Cardiff. Skym played as a prop and was renowned for his strength and vigour and was nicknamed The butcher.^[3] An excellent scrummager, he was known to be able to lift opponents in the front row. Skym had good hands and was able to dribble with some skill.

Archie Skym

Birth name	Archibald Skym
Date of birth	(1906-07-12)12 July 1906
Place of birth	Drefach, Carmarthenshire,[1] Wales
Date of death	15 June 1970(1970-06-15) (aged 63)
Place of death	Cardiff, Wales
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	86 kg (13 st 8 lb)
Occupation(s)	Miner Policeman
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1926 Tumble RFC () 1926–1929 Llanelli RFC () 1929–1935 Cardiff RFC () – Carmarthenshire Police () – Glamorgan Police RFC () – Barbarians F.C. () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1928–1935 Wales 20 (6)

Club career

Due to his father's religious beliefs, Skym was not allowed to play rugby as a child, but during a nine-month miners strike Skym joined a local team, at his home town of Drefach, as something to do. Although an adult when he started playing, he picked up the game quickly and soon moved to Tumble Rugby Club. He impressed in his play and on 26 December 1926 he was playing for top-flight team Llanelli against London Welsh.

Although a Welsh international by early 1928, Llanelli didn't pick him to play once during the 1928/29 season, and by February Skym had enough and left for rival team Cardiff. With regular matches for Cardiff, Skym was back in the Welsh team. An excellent 1931/32 season including a great game for Cardiff against the South African team, saw Skym cement his place at international level. In January 1935, in a match against Swansea, Skym broke his ankle but stayed on the pitch for the entire game. It was injury that ended his international career and he retired from rugby at the end of the season.

International career

Skym played twenty matches for Wales, his first cap was against England on 21 January 1928. He would score two tries, and was part of the Wales team that in 1933 finally beat England at Twickenham.

International matches played

Wales^[4]

•  England 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935
•  France 1928, 1930, 1931
•  Ireland 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933
•  Scotland 1928, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933
•  South Africa 1931

Bibliography

• Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0766-3.
• Thomas, Wayne (1979). A Century of Welsh Rugby Players. Ansells Ltd.

References

1. Welsh Rugby Union player profiles^{[permanent dead link]}
2. "Archie Skym". www.whowasborn.today. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
3. Thomas (1979), pg 72.
4. Smith (1980), pg 471.

• Llanelli RFC history