DURING the Six Nations, we have been looking at the players from the Amman, Swansea and Towy Valleys and surrounding areas who represented their country from the first international back in 1881 right up to the present day.
Here we take a look at some more of our local Welsh internationals.
Barry John
Barry John was born in Cefneithin on January 6, 1945. He played rugby as a fly half and is regarded as one of the greatest.
He began playing rugby as a schoolboy for Cefneithin RFC and in 1964, he moved to play for Llanelli RFC against Moseley. He scored a try and conversion in that game and became a mainstay in the team, earning a reputation for scoring drop goals.
He played against Australia for Llanelli, winning 11-0, with Barry scoring a try and drop goal.
He moved on to Cardiff RFC in 1967, forming one of the most famous half-back pairings in world rugby with scrum half Gareth Edwards. The pair of them were the set half-back pairings at club, international and invitational levels.
Barry played for Cardiff 93 times, over five seasons, scoring 24 tries and 30 drop goals. In 1969 he won the Bill Everson – Player of the Tournament Award in the Snelling Sevens tournament.
He also played against New Zealand in 1967 for an east Wales combined team.
He made his Wales debut in place of David Watkins against a touring Australia in 1966 played in the opening 1967 Five Nations Championship match against Scotland.
He made 25 appearances for Wales, including against New Zealand in 1967, all four of the 1968 Five Nations Championship and all of the 1969 fixtures. He scored his first try for Wales against Scotland in the 1969 tournament. He won the Triple Crown with Wales that same year.
He played in both tests against New Zealand and the one against Australia in Wales’ 1969 tour to the countries. He played against South Africa in 1970 as well as three games in the Five Nations Championship.
In 1971, he was part of the team who won the Five Nations Championship, starting all four games.
He played his last Five Nations Championship in 1972, scoring 35 points in three games against England, Scotland and France as Wales refused to travel to Ireland due to the Bloody Sunday events and increased violence.
He scored 90 points for Wales, made up of five tries, nine conversions, 13 penalties and eight drop goals.
He played for the British & Irish Lions on the tour to South Africa in 1968, but he only played in three of the warmup matches – against Western Province, South Western Districts and Natal - and the first test, before breaking his collarbone, which ended the tour. He returned to the Lions squad in 1971, playing in all four tests and finishing as the top test scorer. In total on the 1971 tour, he played in 17 of the 26 matches. He scored 30 of the Lions 48 points across the four tests, with a total of 191 points including the non-test matches.
His total tally for the tour was six tries, 31 conversions, eight drop goals and 27 penalties.
He played for the Barbarians against New Zealand just three days after the aforementioned east Wales team. He also played for them against Oxford University Past and Present in 1970 and South Africa.
Barry retired from rugby in 1972 at the age of 27.
Ken Jones
David Kenneth Jones, known as Ken Jones, was born in Cross Hands on August 7, 1941. He went to school at Gwendraeth Grammar School and to University College, Cardiff and Merton College, Oxford.
He made his debut for Llanelli RFC while still in school and made an impact, playing at fly-half, including in the match against a touring South Africa side. He made 140 appearances for Llanelli between 1960 and 1965 before moving to Cardiff RFC, playing 104 times over five seasons. One of those games was the game against South Africa in 1969 and the 1966 game against Australia, and he toured to South Africa with the club.
Ken played for Oxford University RFC – winning the 1963 Varsity match against Cambridge and he also played for London Welsh.
His international career began at a young age, winning 11 caps at Wales U15 and U19 age levels. He made his debut for the senior Wales side on January 20, 1962, at centre against England. He kept his position in the next two games against Scotland and France and in the following season, he played the rearranged match against Ireland.
He played a total of 14 games for Wales between 1962 and 1966, scoring five tries. He was part of the Wales team for their first overseas tour in 1964 in Nairobi. In total, he played in 12 Five Nations Championship matches and two friendlies.
At the age of 21, Ken was selected for the British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 1962. He played in 13 games on that tour, scoring nine tries. He played in the first three test matches, scoring a try in the first in what is one of the best tries for the Lions – when he shirked through the defence and ran 60 metres to score.
He also played in the test matches for the Lions against Australia and the first against New Zealand in the 1966 tour, scoring two tries in the New Zealand game.
He played five times for the Barbarians and retired from rugby at the age of 27.
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George Davies
George Davies was born on December 25, 1875, and played club rugby for Llandeilo. He captained the club for two seasons but then moved to Swansea.
He was capped for Wales for the first time in 1900 against England and would play for Wales nine times in total, scoring a try against Ireland in 1900 and converting four goals in the 1905 Triple Crown winning season.
He also played for Swansea against the Original All Blacks.
A collision during a Swansea match between him and Rhys Gabe – the selectors first choice – would leave him injured and allow Gabe to take his Welsh spot.
Emyr Phillips
Emyr Phillips was born on February 22, 1987, in Llandovery.
He began playing rugby at Llandovery RFC as a hooker before moving on to Llanelli RFC.
He joined the Scarlets in 2008, making his debut the following year against Ulster. In total, he scored two tries in 72 matches for the Scarlets, being part of the Scarlets team that reached the 2012 Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final. He played for the club until his retirement.
He made his debut for Wales against Japan in 2013, playing in both tests. His final international appearance came later that year against Tonga.
He retired from rugby at the end of the 2017/18 season.
Gwilym Michael
Gwilym Michael was born in Ynysmeudwy on July 8, 1892.
Not much is known about his life but he made three appearances for Wales in the 1923 Five Nations Championship, making his debut against England and his last appearance against France.
David Evans
David Benjamin Evans was born in Llandybie on September 3, 1899. Not much is known about him but he represented Wales once against England in 1926.
Tom Hopkins
Thomas Hopkins was born in Ystradgynlais on January 20, 1903. He represented Wales four times in 1926, making his debut against England and his final appearance against France.
John ‘Jack’ Elwyn Evans
Jack Evans was born in Brynamman in 1897 and played for Brynamman RFC, Amman United RFC, Swansea RFC and Llanelli RFC. He played as wing or centre.
He made one appearance for Wales against Scotland in 1924 and played rugby league for Broughton Rangers.
We will look at more of the regions internationals next week.
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