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A Century of Welsh Rugby Players
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1880-1980
By Wayne Thomas, 1980
**My copy of this book was deposited with Glamorgan FHS in April 2022 (Gareth Hicks)
There is a Foreword by D E Wilson of Ansells Brewery Ltd who were associated with the Centenary of the Welsh Rugby Union and donated part of the sale proceeds of the book to the Union's Charitable Fund.
There is an introductory piece by Wilfred Wooller on the theme ' The Evolutionary Process of the 100 Years', here is his opening paragraph;
"Evolution and natural selection is a process by which this world has matured. The rugby game is equally subject to these laws of nature. It cannot stand still. It must evolve. The rugby code is fortunate in that its complicated structure of players and laws, allow various alternatives of development, not so the parent code from which it sprang, association football...."
The author's introduction explains how he selected the 100 players who have short biographical sketches in the book,
There is a Conclusion by Phil Bennett, here is his opening paragraph;
"Any rugby player is honoured by recognition, especially by one's own people, and we in Wales are deeply proud of our rugby heritage. To be included in a list of a century of rugby players is something special even though, at the same time, one must pay tribute to the other gallant six hundred who have worn the magical scarlet jersey with the Prince of Wales feathers emblem...."
There is an alphabetical list of Welsh internationals with their clubs and who they played against and when.
Also a list of the leading Welsh Cap holders as at 1980.
The biographical sketches are listed below by reference to the period in the game's development that the author has defined.
Each of the 100 players has a photograph included, here is a list of other photographs
List of Other Photographs
This list shows the date, opponent country,page number, and whether players' names are included.
A 'yes' indicates a set team group, but some are 'in play' shots.
They are in page order, but not always chronological.
| 1882, Ireland, 8, yes | 1893, ?, 14, yes | 1899, Ireland, 26, yes |
| 1900, England, 26, no | 1902, Scotland, 31, no | 1902, England, 34, one |
| 1904/5, England, 37, yes | 1905, New Zealand, 39, yes | 1905, New Zealand, 39, three |
| 1907, England, 41, one | 1906, South Africa 43, no | 1907/8, Scotland, 48, yes |
| 1902, Scotland, 51, three | 1911, Scotland, 55, yes | 1921, France, 56, two |
| 1925, Scotland, 56, one | 1924, New Zealand, 59, two | 1926, Ireland, 70, no |
| 1923, England, 76, one | 1922, England, 77, yes | 1932, England, 78, yes |
| 1935, New Zealand, 87, yes | 1938, Scotland, 90, one | 1935, New ZAealand, 92, one |
| 1937, England, 95, one | 1952, Scotland, 100, yes | 1955, Ireland, 100, one |
| 1953, Scotland, 123, one | 1953, New Zealand, 128, yes | 1965, Ireland, 140, yes |
| 1958, Australia, 140, yes | 1965, Ireland, 144, one | 1979, England, 174, yes |
| 1969, England, 174, yes | 1970, South Africa, 179, one | 1970/1, Grand Slam Season, 180, yes |
| 1970/1, Grand Slam Season,183 G O Edwards, T M Davies, P Bennett, J P R Williams, I Hall | 1974, Scotland, 185, one | 1976, England, 186, one |
| 1976, France, 188, no | 1975/6, Scotland, 191, yes |
Biographical Sketches
1881/99
| F. E. Hancock | A. J. Gould | J. Hannan | W. J. Bancroft |
| A. W. Boucher | E. G. Nicholls | G. Ll. Lloyd | G. Boots |
| W M. Llewellyn | J. J. Hodges | A. Brice |
1900/14
| W. J. Trew | R. T. Gabe | R. Jones | R. M. Owen |
| A. F. Harding | D. Jones | W. W. Joseph | E. T. Morgan |
| G. Travers | H. B. Winfield | C. M. Pritchard | P. F. Bush |
| J. L. Williams | J. Webb | T. H. Vile | J. P. Jones |
| I. Morgan | J. Bancroft |
1919/29
| T. Parker | A. Jenkins | S. Morris | W. J. Delahay |
| W. Rowe Harding | I. Jones | W. C. Powell | W. G. Thomas |
| T. Arthur | E. M. Jenkins | A. Skym | J. Bassett |
| J. C. Morley | F. L. Williams |
1930/39
| R. W Boon | E. C. Davey | A. R. Ralph | V. G. J. Jenkins |
| W. Wooller | C. W. Jones | A. M. Rees | J. I. Rees |
| W H. Tanner | W. T. H. Davies | W. H. Travers |
1947/57
| W. B. Cleaver | K. J. Jones | J. Matthews | J. R. G. Stephens |
| B. L. Williams | C. Davies | R. T. Evans | J. A. Gwilliam |
| W. R. Cale | D. J. Hayward | M. C. Thomas | R. C. C. Thomas |
| E. R. John | B. L. Jones | W. R. Willis | C. I. Morgan |
| W. O. G. Williams | T. J. Davies | C. C. Meredith | B. V. Meredith |
| R. H. Williams | T R. Prosser |
1958/68
| H. J. Morgan | D. I. E. Bebb | B. Price | A. E. I. Pask |
| D. C. T Rowlands | B. Thomas | D. Watkins | D. Williams |
| S. J. Dawes | T G. R. Davies | B. John | W. D. Thomas |
| J. Taylor | G. O. Edwards | W. D. Morris | M. C. T. Richards |
| K. S. Jarrett |
1969/79
| T. M. Davies | J. P. R. Williams | P. Bennett | R. W. Windsor |
| A. J. Martin | T. J. Cobner | G. Price |