Rex Willis
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Rex Willis
William Rex Willis (25 October 1924 – 19 January 2000) was a Welsh international rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby for Cardiff and invitational rugby for the Barbarians. He won 21 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand. He played the last half-hour of the 1952 Five Nations Championship against Scotland with his jaw broken in several places.Thomas (1979), p. 125.A Century of Rugby: How Wales Nine Grand Slams were Won
WalesOnline


Rugby career


Early career

Willis was educated in England before boarding at

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Ystrad
Ystrad (also known as Ystrad Rhondda or Ystrad-Rhondda) is a village and community (and electoral ward) in the Rhondda Fawr valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Description As a community and ward Ystrad contains the neighbouring district of Gelli. Ystrad is a former coal mining village which was once housed the most profitable collieries belonging to the Cory brothers. Ystrad is long and narrow, a main road where most amenities can be found, and a series of smaller residential streets lined with the terraces associated with the area. The majority of housing stock is the classic South Wales valleys terrace with infills of new build. The Rhondda Fawr River runs through the village, separating it from Gelli on the southern bank. Like most former coal mining communities in the South Wales Coalfield, Ystrad is remarkably self-contained. There is a very strong community in Ystrad Rhondda - a common feature of these mining towns. The Ystrad Rhondda railway station is on the Rhond ...
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Billy Cleaver
William Cleaver (15 September 1921 – 29 September 2003) was a Welsh international Rugby Union fly-half who played club rugby for Cardiff. He won 14 caps for Wales and was selected to play for the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand. He was in the Welsh team that won the 1950 Grand Slam. Born in 1921 in Treorchy, Rhondda, Cleaver was an exciting attacking player with a shrewd change of pace. After one terrible game, under heavy weather conditions against Scotland, Cleaver gained the nickname 'Billy Kick'; though this was a harsh moniker considering his normal style of play. Cleaver was a coal miner by trade and spent most of his life within the industry, though in a managerial role for much of his later career. He was a keen patron of the arts: he was secretary of the Contemporary Arts Society for Wales (1972–91) and vice chairman of the Welsh Arts Council (1980–83). International career Cleaver was first selected for Wales during the 1947 Five ...
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Glyn Davies (rugby Player)
Glyn Davies (24 August 1927 – 7 November 1976) was a Welsh international rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for a large selection of clubs but most notably for Pontypridd RFC, Pontypridd and Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Cambridge University. He won eleven international caps for Wales national rugby union team, Wales including a win over the touring 1947 Australia team. Described as a mercurial outside half, Davies was notable for his sidestep and ability to change pace and direction with ease.Glyn Davies
Clifton Rugby Football Club History
Smith (1980), p. 308. He was the brother-in-law of Welsh opera singer Geraint Evans, Sir Geraint Evans.


Rugby career

Davies first played rugby as a schoolboy for Pontypridd Grammar School. After ...
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John Gwilliam
John Albert Gwilliam (28 February 1923 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh rugby union player and schoolteacher. As a "Rugby union positions#8. Number Eight, No. 8" he played international rugby for Wales national rugby union team, Wales and club rugby for Cambridge University R.U.F.C., Cambridge University, Murrayfield Wanderers RFC, Edinburgh Wanderers, Gloucester RFC, Gloucester, Newport RFC, Newport, London Welsh RFC, London Welsh, Llanelli RFC, Llanelli and Wasps RFC, Wasps. He captained the Wales rugby union team when they achieved Grand Slam (Rugby Union), Grand Slam victories in the 1950 Five Nations Championship, 1950 and 1952 Five Nations Championships. Early life Gwilliam was born in Pontypridd, the son of Thomas Albert and Adela Audrey Gwilliam. He attended Monmouth School and went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1941 to read mathematics. After spending a year at Cambridge, he was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment and saw action in Europe.
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1951 Five Nations Championship
The 1951 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-second series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the fifty-seventh series of the northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ten matches were played between 13 January and 7 April. It was contested by England, France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. missed out on a second Grand Slam after drawing against at Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ..., but won the championship. Participants The teams involved were: Table Results External links The official RBS Six Nations Site {{Six Nations Championship Six Nations Championship seasons Five Nations Five Nations Five Nations Five Nations ...
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Jack Matthews (rugby Player)
Jack Matthews (21 June 1920 – 18 July 2012) was a Welsh physician and rugby union international centre who played first-class club rugby for Cardiff and Newport. Along with Bleddyn Williams, Matthews formed a centre partnership which is regarded as one of the finest in the game. He was also a devastating tackler, once described as "a cross between a bulldozer and a brick wall". Matthews won 17 caps for Wales and six with the British Lions, though his career was curtailed by the Second World War. Matthews was a general practitioner by profession and travelled with the 1980 Lions on their tour of South Africa as the team doctor. Early history Born in Bridgend, South Wales in 1920, Matthews attended Bridgend County School before matriculating to the Welsh National School of Medicine. From a youth he was a keen sportsperson, and in 1937 he won the Welsh AAA junior 220 yards title.Hignal (2007) p. 112 A year later, after spending three seasons in the Welsh Secondary Schools rugb ...
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Bleddyn Williams
Bleddyn Llewellyn Williams MBE (22 February 1923 – 6 July 2009), was a Welsh rugby union centre. He played in 22 internationals for Wales, captaining them five times, winning each time, and captained the British Lions in 1950 for some of their tour of Australia and New Zealand. Considered to be the nonpareil of Welsh centres; he was robust in the tackle and known for his strong leadership and surging runs; he was often referred to as 'The Prince Of Centres'. Biography Born at Taff's Well, near Cardiff, he was the third of eight brothers Williams attended Rydal School in Colwyn Bay from the age of 14 until he was 18. He had already played for the Welsh Schoolboys in 1937 when he had been recommended for a scholarship to Rydal by legendary rugby player Wilf Wooller. At Rydal he played at outside half and was seen as one of the school's star players and managed to play for Cardiff Athletic during the 1938/39 season before the outbreak of the war.Thomas (1979), p. 110. He worked ...
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Grand Slam (rugby Union)
In rugby union, a Grand Slam (Irish: ''Caithréim Mhór''. Welsh: ''Y Gamp Lawn''. French: ''Grand Chelem'') occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship (or its Six Nations Championship#Five Nations 1910.E2.80.931931, Five Nations predecessor) beats all the others during one year's competition. This has been achieved 40 times in total, for the first time by Wales national rugby union team, Wales in 1908 Home Nations Championship, 1908, and most recently by the French team in 2022 Six Nations Championship, 2022. The team with the most Grand Slams is England national rugby union team, England with 13. It can also apply to the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, U20 and Women's Six Nations Championships. In another context, a Grand Slam tour refers to a Rugby union tour, touring side – South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa, Australia national rugby union team, Australia or New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand – which plays fixtures against ...
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Triple Crown (rugby Union)
In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the "Home Nations" – i.e. Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship. If any one of these teams defeat all three other teams, they win the Triple Crown. The Six Nations Championship also includes France and Italy, but their involvement in the tournament has no influence on the result of the Triple Crown, although it means that the winners of the Triple Crown are not necessarily the winners of the Championship as a whole. England won the first Triple Crown – although the phrase was not in use at the time – in the inaugural 1883 series of the original rugby union Home Nations Championship. The latest winners of the Triple Crown are Ireland, who won it by beating Scotland at the Aviva Stadium in the 2022 Six Nations Championship. Traditionally the Triple Crown was an informal honour with no trophy associated with it. However a trophy now exists, w ...
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Ken Jones (rugby Player Born 1921)
Kenneth Jeffrey Jones OBE (30 December 1921 – 18 April 2006) was a Welsh sprinter and record breaking Welsh international rugby union footballer. He played for both Wales and the British Isles. He is best known in Wales for his contribution to Welsh rugby, but most notably for his winning try against the All Blacks in 1953. Early life Jones was born in Blaenavon, Monmouthshire on 30 December 1921Smith (1980), pg 334. and as a youth attended West Monmouth Grammar School in Pontypool. There, under the guidance of Gilbert Garnett, he nurtured a skill in rugby union, representing his school and during the holidays he would play for Talywain.Thomas (1979), pg 104. During the 1939–40 season, he was selected for the Welsh Secondary School XV, his first Welsh cap and later that year he attended St. Paul's Training College in Cheltenham. Jones served his country towards the end of World War II and was stationed in India with the Royal Air Force. It was while on service that Jones d ...
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Malcolm Thomas (rugby)
Malcolm Campbell Thomas (25 April 1929 – 9 April 2012) was a Welsh and British Lions international rugby union player. A centre, he played club rugby for Newport. He won 27 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on two tours of Australia and New Zealand. After his rugby career Thomas became a successful business man. He died on 9 April 2012 in Burnham, Buckinghamshire. Early and club career Born in Machen in 1929, Thomas went to school at Bassaleg Grammar and was chosen for the Welsh Secondary Schools rugby and cricket teams, before attending Caerleon Training College. After qualifying from college he became an instructor-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, playing for and captaining Devonport Services before playing for the Navy XV. He joined Newport in 1946 and played against South Africa (1952), New Zealand (1954) and Australia (1957) for the club. A versatile player, Thomas found himself being moved between centre and wing and was chosen many times d ...
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