William Delme Thomas (born 12 September 1942) is a former

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 who became one of

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 ...

' best known rugby players in the 1960s and 1970s. He joined

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 ...

in 1961 and was the team's captain when they won the league in the 1972–73 season and was also the captain when Llanelli beat a touring

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

team in 1972. He is remembered for his emotional speech given to his teammates before this game. He played lock forward.

Early life and work

Thomas was born in

Bancyfelin Bancyfelin is a village, west of Carmarthen, Wales. The English translation of the Welsh name is Hill of the Mill. There is no remnant of the mill today. Up until the 1980s when the A40 dual carriageway bypass opened, the village was plagued ...

, near

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

. He worked as an electricity board linesman, climbing telegraph poles to make repairs.

Rugby career

Llanelli

Thomas played for Llanelli rugby club. He led them in their famous victory over the

at Stradey Park in 1972. His famous speech to his players before the game included his statement that he would willingly trade everything he had achieved with Wales and the Lions for victory that day "on our own ground in front of our own people".

Wales

He played for the Wales national youth team at age eighteen and won his first cap against

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 December 1966WRU Profile and was first choice as

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for the team until he retired from international rugby in 1974, playing his last International in his only loss against England. He was an important part of the team that won the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in 1971. During his penultimate season, he was Wales' captain in the game against New Zealand in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. In total, he won 25 caps.WRU Profile

British and Irish Lions

Delme Thomas toured three times with the then- British Lions. He got his first cap in 1966, before playing for the Wales team, where he played in two test matches. He went on to play two games in the 1968 tour in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and another two in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1971.

After rugby

After retiring from playing rugby in 1974, Thomas experienced mental troubles, which he ascribed in part to leaving the rugby 'family' particularly at Llanelli.

Recognition

In 2000, at the National Eisteddfod in Llanelli, Thomas was honoured as a member of the

Gorsedd A gorsedd (, plural ''gorseddau'') is a community or meeting of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is spelled gorsedh in Cornish and goursez in Breton. When the term is used without qualification, it usually r ...

of the Bards, for his contribution to Welsh sport and the Welsh language.

References

*Gareth Hughes (1983) ''One Hundred Years of Scarlet'' (Clwn Rygbi Llanelli)

External links

Delme Thomas
WRU profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Delme 1942 births Living people Bards of the Gorsedd British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Llanelli RFC players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Carmarthenshire Wales international rugby union players Wales rugby union captains Welsh rugby union players