Clive Frederick William Rees (born 6 October 1951 in Singapore) is a former
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
player. He won thirteen
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
as left wing for
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
between 1973 and 1983.
Clive Rees's rugby career started at
Llanelli
Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...
Grammar School in the late 1960s where he instantly became known as 'Fred' and played on the wing at all levels. In the same Llanelli & District Schoolboys team were future internationals
Gareth Jenkins
Gareth John James Jenkins (born 11 September 1951) is a former Wales, Welsh rugby union rugby player, and former head coach of the Wales national rugby union team, Welsh national team. After a long and distinguished career at Llanelli RFC, Jenki ...
and Stephen Warlow, and
Scarlets
The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...
Bernard Thomas and Roy Mathias.
He displayed his natural speed by winning both the 100 and 200 meters at the
Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...
Secondary Schools Athletic Championship.
Rees went on to study at
Loughborough College
Loughborough College is a general further education college located in Leicestershire, England which offers a range of courses including further education, higher education, apprenticeships and professional qualifications.
List of princip ...
, where he played in the rugby team for three seasons alongside future stars
Fran Cotton
Francis Edward Cotton (born 3 January 1947) is a former rugby union prop forward who played for England and the British Lions. His clubs included Coventry R.F.C. and Sale. After retiring, he remained in rugby administration and founded a clo ...
and
Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to:
Academics
* Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager
* Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...
. During a freshers trial Rees came off the wing to score under the post which prompted coach Jim Greenwood to invite him to join the senior squad. Rees played opposite Lewis Dick (who went on to play for
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
). At only eighteen he found himself in the College Sevens team, beating Cardiff in the final of the
Glengarth Sevens
{{primary sources, date=October 2011
The Glengarth Sevens was an annual 7 a-side rugby union tournament held at Davenport Rugby Club The first Glengarth Sevens was held in 1967 at Headlands Road, home of Davenport Rugby Club. Its celebrated its ...
. It was here that a boy said to Steve Smith that Clive Rees was running so fast his legs were a blur, just like
Billy Whizz
Billy Whizz is a fictional character featured in the British comic ''The Beano'', first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced The Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can run extraordinarily fast. His ...
from ''
The Beano
''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...
'' - a nickname by which Rees is still fondly referred to.
During a holiday from Loughborough, Rees returned home to play for
Llanelli RFC
Llanelli Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Llanelli) is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872.
The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pembert ...
. “He was selected for a ‘Welsh Trial’ in which he overtook
J.J. Williams to make a try saving tackle, which made the selectors sit up and take note”. He won his first cap for Wales in 1973, the year he started playing for Llanelli Wanderers prior to moving to
London Welsh
London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...
, and played in the Welsh side that beat
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1975.
He was reselected to the Welsh squad in 1980. “‘Billy Whizz’ was not only playing better than at any time in his career, but that his re-selection was long overdue. The London Welsh wing was never dropped again and although he never scored a try for Wales himself, his brilliant running and unselfish support ensured that many others profited handsomely. His legendary carving run down the left wing at
Murrayfield
Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often conside ...
produced one of the great Welsh tries of the decade in 1983.”
In 1983 Rees scored his 100th try for London Welsh against
London Scottish, drawing a standing ovation. Rees was made captain of London Welsh for the club's 1984-85 centenary season. He was determined to make a break with the past, ignore nostalgic media comparisons to the great
John Dawes
Sydney John Dawes (29 June 194016 April 2021) was a Welsh rugby union player, playing at centre, and later coach. He captained London Welsh, Wales, the 1971 British Lions and the Barbarians. He is credited with being a major influence in th ...
era, and shake the club into a determined drive for excellence. Under his enthusiastic captaincy the club was unbeaten at home for a record-breaking seven months, and for the first time in its history London Welsh reached the final of the
John Player Cup
The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English club ...
. Rees himself is on record as having scored most tries in the Cup with eleven after
J.P.R. Williams' six. To cap the centenary season London Welsh went on a world tour.
Together with the likes of
Kevin Bowring
Kevin Bowring is a Welsh former rugby union player and coach. Bowring attended Neath Grammar School for Boys. A flanker, he played for London Welsh and captained the team. He also represented the Barbarians and Middlesex County .
He progressed ...
and
Robert Ackerman, Clive Rees was in the London Welsh team that won the
Middlesex Sevens The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 Th ...
.
During his career Rees also played nine times for the
Barbarians
A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...
and journalists voted him player of the tournament in the
Hong Kong Sevens
The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...
. In 1974, he was selected as the youngest member of the
British Lions squad for the tour of South Africa. The Lions were unbeaten on that tour, with 21 wins and one draw. Rees had to stop playing after 7 games
Clive Rees Lions profile
lionsrugby.com because he broke his hand.
In 1987 Rees travelled to Japan to train the Toshiba team.
All the while Clive Rees was a highly respected school teacher. After starting his teaching career at Highdown School
Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre is an academy in Emmer Green on the outskirts of Reading, Berkshire, England. It has a capacity for approximately 1600 students aged 11–18. There are currently 1459 students on roll at the school with 262 ...
, he was head of rugby at Chiltern Edge School
Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge (formerly Chiltern Edge Community School) is a coeducational secondary school located in Sonning Common, Oxfordshire, England.
Students come from Caversham, Emmer Green, Sonning Common, Henley on Thames, Shiplake ...
, then went on to become head of PE at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
Haberdashers' Boys' School (also known as Haberdashers', Habs, or Habs Boys), until September 2021 known as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, is a public school for pupils age 4 to 18 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. The school is a me ...
in London and later at Clifton College Prep School in Bristol.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Clive
1951 births
Living people
Welsh rugby union players
Wales international rugby union players
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales
London Welsh RFC players
Llanelli RFC players
Barbarian F.C. players
Welsh people of Singaporean descent
Loughborough Students RUFC players
People educated at Llanelli Boys' Grammar School
Rugby union wings