Two-time Grand Slam Wales captain dies
The robust No.8 – who in 1953 was also part of the last Welsh team to beat New Zealand – was capped 23 times from 1947-54.
His 1950 Grand Slam winning side – they sealed it with a 21-0 whipping of France in Cardiff – was the first Welsh team to achieve that feat in 39 years. He was no longer skipper when Wales overcame the All Blacks 13-8, Bleddyn Williams having taken over that role.
In 1951 he captained Wales against the Springboks, a tense match which the Springboks won 6-3 through a try by Chum Ochse and a drop goal by Hansie Brewis to a try by Bleddyn Williams which Gwillam started.
A devout Christian he earned a reputation later in life for being a disciplinarian headmaster at Birkenhead School.
A Cambridge graduate he took a break in his studies to serve as a tank commander in World War II and on one occasion towards the end of hostilities was seen dragging a diminutive German soldier along by his neck. When it was put to him it would have been easier to shoot him he replied "Oh no sir. Much too small".
John Arthur Gwillam was born in Pontypridd on 28 February 1923. He went to Monmouth School and, after the war, to Cambridge where he won Blues in 1947 and 1948. He later played for Newport, London Welsh, Gloucester and Edinburgh Wanderers. He was also invited to become a Barbarian.
Agence France-Presse
