Malcolm Thomas

For other uses, see Malcolm Thomas (basketball player).

Malcolm Thomas

Full name	Malcolm Campbell Thomas[1]
Date of birth	25 April 1929(1929-04-25)
Place of birth	Machen, Monmouthshire[2]
Height	5ft. 10ins.
Weight	13st. 10lbs.
School	Bassaleg Grammar School
University	Caerleon Training College
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Centre
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
? 1946-1959 ? 1950-≥1958	Devonport Services R.F.C. Newport RFC London Welsh RFC Barbarian F.C.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1949-1959 1950-1959	Wales British Lions	27 4	(22) (0)

Malcolm Thomas (25 April 1929) was a Welsh international centre who played club rugby for Newport. He won 27 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on two tours of Australia and New Zealand. A versatile player, Thomas found himself being moved between centre and wing and was chosen many times due to his ability as a utility back.^[3] He was also recognised as an accurate placekicker and was strong in the tackle, with a powerful hand-off.^[4]

Early and club career

Born in Machen in 1929, Thomas went to school at Bassaleg Grammar and was chosen for the Welsh Secondary Schools rugby and cricket teams, before attending Caerleon Training College. After qualifying from college he became an instructor-lieutenant in the Royal Navy, playing for and captaining Devonport Services before playing for the Navy XV.^[5]

He joined Newport in 1946 and played against South Africa (1952), New Zealand (1954) and Australia (1957) for the club. Jones also represented Cornwall and Monmouthsire at county level, and played invitational matches for the Barbarians and Crawshays. In 1958 ha was a member of the 1958 touring Barbarian team that played in Africa, scoring a try and two conversions in the win over East Africa.

International career

Thomas made his debut against France in 1949 in a home game at St Helens which Wales lost. The selectors kept faith with Thomas and he turned out for the next four Five Nations Tournament games, which saw Wales win the Grand Slam for the first time since 1911. On 19 January 1957 he was awarded the captaincy of Wales against England, and later in the season against Scotland. In 1953 he was dropped from the squad as the selctors believed his play was becoming stale and was blamed for a bad pass in the game against England.^[5] In a 1954/55 pre-season club trial he broke a leg, however he was back playing for Newport the next season and a return to club form saw his return to the Welsh side.

International matches played

Wales^[6]

•  England 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1959
•  France 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1959
•  Ireland 1950, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1959
•  Scotland 1950, 1951, 1952, 1956, 1957. 1958
•  South Africa 1951

British Lions

•  Australia 1950
• New Zealand 1950, 1950, 1959

Bibliography

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

References

1. ^ Newport RFC player profile
2. ^ WRU player profiles
3. ^ Smith (1980), pg 324.
4. ^ Smith (1980), pg 339.
5. ^ ^{a b} Thomas (1979), pg 119.
6. ^ Smith (1980), pg 472.

Persondata
Name	Thomas, Malcolm
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 April 1929
Place of birth	Machen, Monmouthshire
Date of death
Place of death