Bleddyn Williams

Bleddyn Williams
MBE
	Williams in New Zealand in 1950
Birth name	Bleddyn Llewellyn Williams
Date of birth	22 February 1923
Place of birth	Taff's Well, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Date of death	6 July 2009 (aged 86)
Place of death	Cardiff, Wales
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	13 st (180 lb; 83 kg)
School	Rydal School
Spouse	Violet
Children	1xson, 2xdaughter
Occupation(s)	Glider Pilot Regiment; Journalist
Rugby union career
Position(s)
Position(s)	Centre
Amateur team(s)
Years	Team
	Taffs Well RFC; Cardiff RFC; Newbridge RFC; Barbarian F.C.
International career
Years	Team
1947–1955; 1950	British Lions

Bleddyn Llewellyn Williams

British Lions in 1950 for some of their tour of Australia and New Zealand

. Considered to be the nonpareil of Welsh centres; he was robust in the tackle and known for his strong leadership and surging runs; he was often referred to as 'The Prince Of Centres'.

Biography

Born at Taff's Well, near Cardiff, he was the third of eight brothers^[4] Williams attended Rydal School in Colwyn Bay from the age of 14 until he was 18. He had already played for the Welsh Schoolboys in 1937 when he had been recommended for a scholarship to Rydal by legendary rugby player Wilf Wooller. At Rydal he played at outside half and was seen as one of the school's star players and managed to play for Cardiff Athletic during the 1938/39 season before the outbreak of the war.^[5] He worked for the Steel Company of Wales.^[4]

Second World War

During the Second World War he joined the Royal Air Force. Trained as a fighter pilot in Arizona,^[6] he was switched to and trained as a glider pilot, attached to the Glider Pilot Regiment.^[7]

Williams took part in various

River Rhine into Germany – with a cargo of medical and radio supplies. He then spent a week sleeping rough, before bumping into his commanding officer, Hugh Bartlett DFC, the Sussex County Cricket Club batsman, on a Friday morning: "Williams aren't you meant to be at Welford Road tomorrow playing for Great Britain against the Dominions? They need you. Go now!" Williams caught the last supply plane to RAF Brize Norton that night, and although the team didn't win he did score a try.^[6] He couldn't win the match but did score a glorious try. He turned out for both the RAF and the Great Britain United rugby teams.^[7]

Rugby career

During war-time Williams joined

Lloyd represented Wales in the 1960s. At one time four of the siblings played in the same Cardiff team together and between them had a Cardiff career that spanned thirty years. Bleddyn Williams played 283 games for Cardiff and scored 185 tries for the club, including a club record 41 tries in the 1947–48 season.^[4]

International career

Williams made his debut for Wales in January 1947 against England as a fly-half, playing alongside Haydn Tanner. He went on to win a further 21 Welsh caps, all as a centre, making his final appearance against Scotland in January 1955. He scored seven tries, for a total of 21 points in internationals. Williams captained Wales in five matches, four times in 1953 and once in 1955, in his final international. He led the side to victory in all five games.^[8] In 1953 he had the unique distinction of captaining his club (

All Blacks

.

Williams was a member of the 1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia and played three of the four tests against New Zealand (missing the first test through injury^[9]) and both tests against Australia. He captained the Lions in the third and fourth tests against New Zealand, deputising for the injured captain Karl Mullen. Williams scored one international try for the Lions, in the first test against Australia.^[10]

Later life

After injury forced him to retire at the age of 32 in 1955, Williams began a career in the media, establishing himself as an authoritative

The Sunday People for 30 years.^[4]

He was made an

MBE in the 2005 New Year Honours list, an award he accepted with typical modesty by saying he owed it to his team mates.^[11]

He was the president of Cardiff Athletic Club^[12]

Personal life

Post war, Williams married Violet; the couple had a son and two daughters. In 1979, Violet gave Williams the

Kiss of Life after he collapsed with an embolism.^[6] Violet later died of cancer.^[6] On 6 July 2009, Williams died at the Holme Tower medical centre in Cardiff, after suffering ill health for some time.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Bleddyn Williams. espn.co.uk
^ Thomas (1979), p. 109.
^ "Lions legend dies". British and Irish Lions Official Site. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Bleddyn Williams: Welshrugby player". The Times. London. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.
^ ^a ^b Thomas (1979), p. 110.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gallagher, Brendan (8 March 2008). "Dr Jack Matthews, Bleddyn Williams are heroes". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "'Prince of Centres' Williams dies". BBC News. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
^ Griffiths (1987) pp. 4:27–4:31
^ Thomas (2005) p. 92
^ Griffiths (1987) p. 9:8
^ "MBE prize for Welsh rugby great". BBC News. 31 December 2004. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
^ "Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club – The Club". Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.

Bibliography

Griffiths, John (1987). The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
ISBN 0-460-07003-7
.

Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
ISBN 0-7083-0766-3
.

ISBN 1-84596-030-0
.

Thomas, Wayne (1979). A Century of Welsh Rugby Players. Ansells Ltd.

External links

Profile On British and Irish Lions Official Site
Bleddyn Williams – Daily Telegraph obituary

[r1-1] Bleddyn Williams. espn.co.uk

[Thomas109-2] Thomas (1979), p. 109.

[3] "Lions legend dies". British and Irish Lions Official Site. Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.

[TimesObit-4] "Bleddyn Williams: Welshrugby player". The Times. London. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2009.

[Thomas110-5] Thomas (1979), p. 110.

[TelgBart-6] Gallagher, Brendan (8 March 2008). "Dr Jack Matthews, Bleddyn Williams are heroes". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 July 2009.

[BBCObit-7] "'Prince of Centres' Williams dies". BBC News. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.

[8] Griffiths (1987) pp. 4:27–4:31

[9] Thomas (2005) p. 92

[10] Griffiths (1987) p. 9:8

[11] "MBE prize for Welsh rugby great". BBC News. 31 December 2004. Retrieved 6 July 2009.

[Bowls-12] "Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club – The Club". Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2008.

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v t e British Lions – 1950 tour to New Zealand and Australia
Forwards	Budge Clifford C. Davies D.M. Davies Evans Hayward John Kininmonth McCarthy McKay Mullen (capt) Nelson Roberts Robins Stephens
Backs	Black Cleaver Henderson K. Jones L. Jones Kyle Lane Macdonald Matthews Norton Preece Rimmer Smith Thomas Williams Willis
Coach	Leslie B. Osborne

v t e British & Irish Lions team captains
To 1910	1888: Robert Seddon ^{Note 1} 1888: Andrew Stoddart ^{Note 1} 1891: Bill Maclagan 1896: Johnny Hammond 1899: Matthew Mullineux ^{Note 2} 1899: Frank Stout ^{Note 2} 1903: Mark Morrison 1904: David Bedell-Sivright^{Note 3} 1904: Teddy Morgan^{Note 3} 1908: Boxer Harding 1910: John Raphael^{Note 4}
To present	1910: Tommy Smyth^{Note 5} 1910: Jack Jones^{Note 5} 1910: Tommy Smyth^{Note 5} 1924: Ronald Cove-Smith 1927: David MacMyn 1930: Doug Prentice 1936: Bernard Gadney 1938: Sam Walker 1950: Karl Mullen 1950: Bleddyn Williams^{Note 6} 1955: Robin Thompson 1955: Cliff Morgan^{Note 7} 1959: Ronnie Dawson 1962: Arthur Smith 1966: Mike Campbell-Lamerton 1966: David Watkins^{Note 8} 1968: Tom Kiernan 1971: John Dawes 1974: Willie John McBride 1977: Phil Bennett 1980: Bill Beaumont 1983: Ciaran Fitzgerald 1986: Colin Deans 1989: Finlay Calder 1993: Gavin Hastings 1997: Martin Johnson 2001: Martin Johnson 2005: Brian O'Driscoll^{Note 9} 2005: Michael Owen^{Note 9} 2005: Gareth Thomas^{Note 9} 2009: Paul O'Connell 2013: Sam Warburton 2013: Alun Wyn Jones^{Note 19} 2017: Peter O'Mahony^{Note 11} 2017: Sam Warburton 2021: Alun Wyn Jones^{Note 12}
Notes	Note 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident. Andrew Stoddart became captain for the remainder of the tour. Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain. Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain. Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was considered the Combined British team by Argentina because it also included three Scots. Note 5: Jack Jones was captain for the first test, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain. Note 6: Bleddyn Williams captained in the third and fourth tests v New Zealand and the first test v Australia. Note 7: Cliff Morgan captained in the third test. Note 8: David Watkins captained in the second and foruth tests v New Zealand. Note 9: Michael Owen captained the Lions in the first tour game, the test vs. Argentina in Cardiff. Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test against New Zealand. Gareth Thomas replaced him as tour captain. Note 10: Sam Warburton was injured in the second test. Alun Wyn Jones replaced him as captain for the third test. Note 11: Tour captain Sam Warburton was named on the bench for the first test. Peter O'Mahony was the captain on the field. Note 12: Tour captain Alun Wyn Jones left the squad for 17 days due to an injury in the first warm-up match, and was replaced by Conor Murray temporarily.