Benjamin Lewis Jones (born 11 April 1931) is a Welsh 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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. A

dual-code rugby international A dual-code rugby international is a rugby footballer who has played at the senior international level in both codes of rugby, 13-a-side rugby league and 15-a-side rugby union. Rugby league started as a breakaway version of rugby in Northern Eng ...

he won nine caps 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 ...

at full-back,

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, before turning professional and playing

for

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

( Heritage No. 896),

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

and

. Rugby league historian Robert Gate has described Lewis Jones as "arguably the most devastating attacking back Wales has ever produced." His acceleration over the first few yards allowed him to penetrate almost any defence in the mid-1950s.

Background

Born Saturday, 11 April 1931, in

Gorseinon, Swansea Gorseinon is a town within the City and County of Swansea, Wales, near the Loughor estuary. It was a small village until the late 19th century when it grew around the coal mining and tinplate industries. It is situated in the north west of Swan ...

, Lewis Jones was educated at

Gowerton Grammar School Gowerton ( cy, Tregŵyr) is a large village and community, about 4 miles north west of Swansea city centre, Wales. Gowerton is often known as the gateway to the Gower Peninsula. Gowerton's original name was Ffosfelin. The village falls within the ...

, and played club rugby for

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

before undertaking his national service in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. After leaving the navy he joined

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. ...

. He won his first cap for Wales against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1950. This was a match Jones might easily have missed, as he had been about to depart for Hong Kong on board an

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

until the orders were countermanded on discovering that he was a rugby player. The same year he played for the British Lions, being flown out as a replacement for an injured player on the tour to New Zealand and Australia, and playing in three test matches. He scored 63 points in seven games in New Zealand and 16 points 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 ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Professional playing career

In November 1952 Jones signed for

rugby league club for a record £6,000 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £419,300 in 2016). A broken arm prevented him having much impact in his first season but in the 1953–54 season he scored 302 points and he first represented Wales in 1953 against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Jones toured

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

in 1954. In 1956–57 he scored a record 496 points. He also set the record for most points in a

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

series in 1956–57. He played in the 1957 World Cup. In the 1960–61 season he played a great part in Leeds' first Championship. Lewis Jones played , was the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

, and 5 conversions in

' 25–10 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in the Championship Final during the 1960–61 season at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

on Saturday 20 May 1961, in front of a crowd of 52,177. Lewis Jones played , and scored 3-

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

s in

' 9–19 defeat by

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

in the

1961 Yorkshire Cup Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

Final during the 1961–62 season at

on Saturday 11 November 1961. After the 1953 game against France, Wales did not play another RFL officially recognised international match until 1968; but during this period a representative Wales team played in two games against France, both of which are now considered official by the Rugby League Record Keepers Society who provide data to International Rugby League. The second of these games saw Jones given the captaincy, leading the Wales team out at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

on 17 February 1963. Lewis also represented

while at Leeds between 1952 and 1956 against France (2 non-

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

matches). Lewis Jones represented the ''Rest of the World'' in the 11–20 defeat by Australia at

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

on 29 June 1957. Jones' Testimonial match at

took place in 1963. He was the first Leeds player to score over 1,000 goals for the club, a feat not matched until 2009 Kevin Sinfield. Jones became one of fewer than ten Welshmen to have scored more than 2,000 points in their rugby league career. Jones won 15 caps for Great Britain at rugby league, scoring in every game he played. He spent six years as a player-coach and a further two years as coach of the Wentworthville Magpies in Australia. During his eight-year tenure Wentworthville won seven

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

premierships. A schoolteacher by profession, he later taught mathematics in Leeds. As of 2015, he is 9th in British rugby league's "most points in a career" record list behind; Neil Fox, Jim Sullivan, Kevin Sinfield,

Gus Risman Augustus "Gus" John Ferdinand Risman (21 March 1911 – 17 October 1994) was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s through to the 1950s, and coached in the 1940s through to the 1970s. A devastating three-quarter ...

, John Woods,

Mick Nanyn Mick Nanyn (born 3 June 1982) is a former Scotland national rugby league team, Scotland international rugby league footballer. He played as a and was a specialist Goal (sport)#Rugby football, goal-kicker. He set point scoring records at severa ...

Cyril Kellett Cyril Kellett (27 April 1937 – 21 March 1993) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s. He played at representative level for Hull XIII (a team composed of players ...

and

Kel Coslett Thomas Kelvin Coslett (born 14 January 1942) is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached rugby league in the 1970s and 1980s. He played represent ...

Post playing

Arriva Yorkshire honoured thirteen rugby league footballers on Thursday 20 August 2009, at a ceremony at Wheldon Road, the home of

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

. A fleet of new buses were named after the 'Arriva Yorkshire Rugby League Dream Team', which included Jones. Members of the public nominated the best ever rugby league footballers to have played in West Yorkshire, supported by local rugby league journalists; James Deighton from BBC Leeds, and Tim Butcher, editor of ''

Rugby League World ''Rugby League World'' is a dedicated rugby league magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the weekly newspaper ''Rugby Leaguer & League Express'' and the annual ''G ...

''. In 2013 Jones, along with three other former players, was inducted into the

Rugby League Hall of Fame The Rugby League Hall of Fame honours the leading players of the sport of rugby league. It was established by the sport's governing body in the UK, the Rugby Football League, in 1988. Players must have been retired for at least five years to be ...

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Lewis Jones at wales.rleague.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at leedsrugby.dnsupdate.co.ukU.K. League Hooker in DoubtWelsh convert XIII
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lewis 1931 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Dewsbury Rams coaches Dual-code rugby internationals Great Britain national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos captains Leeds Rhinos players Llanelli RFC players Neath RFC players People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Other Nationalities rugby league team players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Swansea Rugby league wingers Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Gorseinon Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league coaches Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Wentworthville Magpies players

Background

Professional playing career

Post playing

References

Further reading

External links