View source for William Llewellyn Thomas

{{short description|Wales international rugby union footballer}}
{{other people||William Thomas (disambiguation){{!}}William Thomas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name            = William Llewellyn Thomas
| image           =
| caption         =
| birth_name      = William Llewellyn Thomas
| birth_date      = {{birth date|df=y|1872|05|06}}
| birth_place     = [[Brecon|Brecknock]], [[Powys]], Wales
| death_date      = {{death date and age|df=y|1943|01|09|1872|05|06}}
| death_place     = [[Bootle, Cumbria]], England
| height          =
| weight          =
| position        = [[Rugby union positions#14. & 11. Wing|Wings]]
| amatyears1      =
| amatyears2      = 1893–1899
| amatyears3      = 1894–1895
| amatteam1       = [[Oxford University RFC]]
| amatteam2       = [[Newport RFC]]
| amatteam3       = [[Barbarian F.C.]]
| ru_amclubcaps   =
| ru_amclubpoints =
| ru_amupdate     =
| repteam1        = [[Wales national rugby union team|Wales]]
| repyears1       = 1894–1895
| repcaps1        = 3
| reppoints1      = 0
| ru_ntupdate     =
| coachteams1     =
| coachyears1     =
| ru_coachupdate  =
| occupation      = Vicar
| school          = [[Christ College, Brecon]]
| university      = [[Oxford University]]
}}
'''William Llewellyn Thomas''' (6 May 1872 – 9 January 1943) was a Welsh international [[rugby union]] player who played club rugby for [[Newport RFC|Newport]], international rugby for [[Wales national rugby union team|Wales]] and invitational rugby for the [[Barbarian F.C.|Barbarians]]. He was educated at [[Christ College, Brecon]] and later while at [[Oxford University]] he achieved a sporting [[Blue (university sport)|Blue]].<ref>[http://www.blackandambers.co.uk/Teams/Player?PersonId=101704 William Llewellyn Thomas player profile] Newport RFC website</ref>
==Personal history==
Thomas was born in [[Brecon|Brecknock]], [[Wales]] in 1872 and was educated at [[Christ College, Brecon]] before attending Oxford University. While at Oxford he won a two sporting Blues in the 1893 and 1894 [[The Varsity Match|Varsity Matches]]. After leaving university he returned to Wales and became an assistant master at his old school, Christ College.<ref name="Jenkins156">Jenkins (1991), p.156</ref> He was ordained into the church in 1899 and became a curate in Rushall. He later moved to [[Llandrindod Wells]] and in 1910 became captain of the local golf club. In 1912 he moved to [[Irton]] and was the village vicar until 1924 when he became the vicar of [[Bootle, Cumbria|Bootle]] in Cumbria; a position he held until his death in 1943.<ref name="Jenkins156"/> Thomas was the cousin of [[England national rugby union team|English]] international [[Richard Budworth]].
==Rugby career==
[[File:Wales rugby team 1895.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Wales team of 1895 that faced England. Thomas is middle row, far right.]]
Thomas first played for Newport in the 1893/94 season, and in December 1893 was part of the Newport team that faced the Barbarians. Newport won 19–0 with Thomas and [[Wallace Watts]] both scoring two tries for the 'black and ambers'.<ref name="Starmer-Smith109">Starmer-Smith (1977), pg 109.</ref> Thomas was later selected for the national side as part of the [[1894 Home Nations Championship]]. Brought in as a replacement for [[Cardiff RFC|Cardiff's]] [[Norman Biggs]], Thomas was part of a three-quarters with team mate and Wales' captain [[Arthur Gould (rugby player)|'Monkey' Gould]], and Cardiff pairing [[Tom Pearson (rugby union, born 1872)|Tom Pearson]] and [[Dai Fitzgerald]]. Despite a heavy defeat by England a month earlier, the Welsh selectors kept faith with majority of the team, so Thomas and Fitzgerald were the only two new caps. The Scottish attempted a half-hearted trial of the four three-quarter system, which did not prove fruitful; Wales won the game 7–0.
Thomas lost his place when Biggs returned for the final game of the tournament, but was back in the team the next season when he was chosen to play in the opening game of the [[1895 Home Nations Championship|1895 Championship]]. The Welsh team contained five new caps, but the England team they faced fielded ten international debuts. Although vastly more inexperienced, the English team were victorious, and in the away game to Scotland Thomas was replaced by [[Evan Lloyd (rugby union, born 1871)|Evan Lloyd]]. Thomas' final game was his third home match, all of which had been played at different Welsh grounds, [[Rodney Parade]], [[St. Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground|St. Helen's]] and now, against Ireland, the [[Cardiff Arms Park]]. Wales were victorious, giving Thomas a final international record of two wins and a loss, but the next season the selectors chose the wing partnership of [[Cliff Bowen]] and [[Bert Dauncey]].
===International matches played===
'''Wales'''<ref name="Smith472">Smith (1980), pg 472.</ref>
* {{ru|ENG}} 1895
* [[Ireland national rugby union team|Ireland]] 1895
* {{ru|SCO}} 1894
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Godwin |first=Terry |title=The International Rugby Championship 1883–1983 |year=1984 |publisher=Willows Books |location=London |isbn=0-00-218060-X}}
* {{cite book |last=Griffiths |first=John|title=The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records |year=1987 |publisher=Phoenix House |location=London |isbn=0-460-07003-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=John M. |title=Who's Who of Welsh International Rugby Players |year=1991 |publisher=Bridge Books |location=Wrexham |isbn=1-872424-10-4|display-authors=etal}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=David |author2=Williams, Gareth  |title=Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union |year=1980 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=0-7083-0766-3 }}
* {{cite book |last=Starmer-Smith |first=Nigel |title=The Barbarians |year=1977 |publisher=Macdonald & Jane's Publishers|isbn=0-86007-552-4}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, William Llewellyn}}
[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:Barbarian F.C. players]]
[[Category:Newport RFC players]]
[[Category:Oxford University RFC players]]
[[Category:People educated at Christ College, Brecon]]
[[Category:People from Bootle, Cumbria]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from Cumbria]]
[[Category:Rugby union players from Brecon]]
[[Category:Rugby union wings]]
[[Category:Wales international rugby union players]]
[[Category:Welsh rugby union players]]