David Onllwyn Brace (16 November 1932 - 4 July 2013) was a

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 ...

international scrum-half who played club rugby for Newport and

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distri ...

. 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 ...

and would captain the team twice in the early 1960s. Brace was an exciting, unorthodox scrum-half, who epitomised the Welsh flair scrum-half, though his uneven international appearances point towards unhappiness in his match play from the Welsh selectors.

Rugby career

Brace first played rugby for Aberavon but moved to Newport after the club tried to play him in the unfamiliar role of outside-half to Cliff Ashton. As a Newport player, Brace was chosen to face the touring

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 1954. Brace later played for

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. ...

and captained the team during two seasons 1958/59 and 1960/61. He was one of 21 former Llanelli captains to parade in front of the supporters before the final match at Llanelli's first home ground,

Stradey Park Stradey Park (Welsh: ''Parc y Strade'') was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of s ...

. Brace made his international debut for Wales against England on 21 January 1956 in a game at the

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. Wales won the match 8–3, and Brace faced England's Mike Smith, of whom he had made an excellent half-back partnership at Oxford University. Brace would play in all four matches of the

1956 Five Nations Championship The 1956 Five Nations Championship was the twenty-seventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the sixty-second series of the northern hemisphere ru ...

which Wales won, losing only to Ireland in the tournament. Brace played nine games for Wales, and captained the country twice, on both occasions against Ireland in 1960 and 1961.

International matches played

WalesSmith (1980), pg 464. * 1956, 1957 * 1956, 1960 * 1956, 1960, 1961 * 1956, 1960

Broadcasting career

Onllwyn Brace succeeded

Cliff Morgan Clifford Isaac Morgan, (7 April 1930 – 29 August 2013) was a Welsh rugby union player who played for Cardiff RFC and earned 29 caps for Wales between 1951 and 1958. After his playing career ended, Morgan made a successful career in broadcas ...

as Head of Sport at BBC Wales. After retiring from the BBC in 1989 he joined the Merlin Group as a freelance producer making sports and gardening programmes for the BBC and S4C.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brace, Onllwyn 1932 births 2013 deaths Aberavon RFC players Alumni of University College, Oxford Barbarian F.C. players BBC people Llanelli RFC players Newport RFC players Oxford University RFC players People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Rugby union players from Swansea Rugby union scrum-halves Wales international rugby union players Wales rugby union captains Welsh rugby union players Welsh sports broadcasters