Tyssul "Tuss" Griffiths (6 June 1919 – 25 August 1978) was a Welsh

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 professional

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 1940s and 1950s. He played representative level rugby union for Wales XV, and at club level for

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

, as a full-back, and representative level rugby league 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 at club level for

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

(Heritage № 12), Halifax ( Heritage № 647), and

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

, as a .

Background

Tuss" Griffiths was born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge ...

, Wales, and he died aged 59 in

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 ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England.

Rugby union career

Griffiths was born on 6 June 1919 in

Blaengarw Blaengarw is the uppermost village in the river valley (Cwm Garw) of the River Garw, in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. In the English language Blaengarw means the rugged 'front' or 'head' of the valley. The population of Blaengarw ward ...

. He made his

début for

in October 1945. Griffiths represented

while at Newport RFC in the 'Victory International', but was not awarded a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

Rugby league career

Hunslet

Griffiths switched to

, and joined

in 1946, and went on to make 167 appearances for the club.

Doncaster

Griffiths, who had been transfer listed by Hunslet, was signed by newly-founded

in July 1951. He played in Doncaster's inaugural league game on 18 August 1951, scoring two conversions in a 10–3 victory over

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 ...

. He played 59 games for Doncaster, and was the club's top points scorer for the 1951–52 and 1952–53 seasons.

Halifax

In December 1952, Griffiths was signed by Halifax for a fee of around £1,000. He played in Halifax's 4-4 draw with

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

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1953–54 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 24 April 1954, in front of a crowd of 81,841, in front of a crowd of 81,841, and played , and kicked two penalty goals (2 points each) in the 4-8 defeat by

in the

Final replay during the 1953–54 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 Wednesday 5 May 1954, in front of a record crowd of 102,575 or more, and played , and kick a

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

in Halifax's 2-13 defeat by St. Helens in the 1955–56

Final during the 1955–56 season at

on Saturday 28 April 1956, in front of a crowd of 79,341. Griffiths is one of less than twenty-five Welshmen to have scored more than 1000-points in their rugby league career.Robert Gate (1988). "Gone North - Volume 2". R. E. Gate.

International honours

Griffiths won two caps for

; his first appearance was in 1946 while at Hunslet, and he won his second cap in 1951 as a Doncaster player.

References

External links

Welsh stars still had a rugby ball in wartimePhotograph "Halifax's Griffiths lands a penalty - Another view of the world record crowd. - Date: 05/05/1954" at rlhp.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Tyssul 1919 births 1978 deaths Dewsbury Rams players Doncaster R.L.F.C. players Footballers who switched code Halifax R.L.F.C. players Hunslet F.C. (1883) players Newport RFC players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Bridgend Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Bridgend Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players