John Gwilliam

Who is John Gwilliam?

John Albert Gwilliam was a Welsh rugby union 'No 8' who played international rugby for Wales and club rugby for Cambridge University, Edinburgh Wanderers, Gloucester, Newport, London Welsh, Llanelli and Wasps. He captained the Wales rugby union team when they achieved Grand Slam victories in the 1950 and 1952 Five Nations Championships.

Gwilliam played in his first international game on 20 December 1947 against Australia. He went on to win 23 caps for Wales, including notable victories over Australia in 1947 and the All Blacks in 1953; 13 of these games were as captain. His last international game was against England on 16 January 1954. In 2005 he was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame.

Gwilliam was born in Pontypridd, the son of Thomas Albert and Adela Audrey Gwilliam. He attended Monmouth School and went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1941. After spending a year at Cambridge, he was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment and saw action in Europe. The historian Max Hastings reports an incident at Rathau where Gwilliam was carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck.