Clive Rowlands

Who is Clive Rowlands?

Clive Rowlands OBE is a former Welsh rugby union footballer and later coach.

Rowlands was born in Upper Cwmtwrch. A teacher by profession, he played club rugby at scrum-half for Abercraf, Pontypool, Llanelli and Swansea. He captained Pontypool in the 1962 – 63 season, and captained Swansea in the 1967–1968 season

Unusually, his first cap for Wales against England in 1963 was as captain, a position which he retained for his next 13 caps between 1963 and 1965, leading Wales to their first Triple Crown victory since 1952. He captained Wales in every game he played including Wales' first match outside of Europe and its first in the Southern Hemisphere; played against East Africa in Nairobi on 12 May 1964, Wales winning 8-26.

In the 1963 Five Nations match against Scotland in wet and muddy conditions, Rowlands decided to kick for touch as many times as possible, with the result that there were 111 line-outs in the match and Wales outside-half David Watkins only touched the ball five times. Wales won 6-0 but the International Rugby Board eventually responded with a change in the laws in 1970, making it illegal to kick direct into touch except from within the team's own 22.