In a
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 ...
match, each team nominates one of the members of their starting line-up to serve as
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 ...
, giving them the responsibility of leading their team and communicating with the referee. Since 1881, the
Wales national team has played 722 matches and named 137 captains.
Sam Warburton
Sam Kennedy-Warburton, OBE MStJ (born 5 October 1988), commonly known as Sam Warburton, is a Welsh former international rugby union player. Warburton played rugby for Cardiff Rugby and was first capped for Wales in 2009. He usually played as ...
led Wales in the most matches, captaining them 49 times between 2011 and 2016; Warburton also captained Wales to their most victories with 23. The Wales captain to have maintained a 100% record while playing in the most matches is
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 thei ...
(5) between 1953 and 1955, although
Tom Parker captained the side to six wins and a draw between 1921 and 1923. Wales' longest serving captain (albeit not a continuous spell) is their current skipper,
Alun Wyn Jones
Alun Wyn Jones (born 19 September 1985) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He is the world's most-capped rugby union player. Jones also holds the records for the most ...
, who first captained the team in 2009. The most recent addition to the list is
Jonathan Davies, who led the team against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
on 9 February 2019 during the
Six Nations.
*Information correct as of 14 March 2019.
References
{{Wales national rugby union team
Captains
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 ...
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 ...