Wales honours its Test refs

Part of WRU 125

Wales's international rugby referees are all set to be 'capped' in the new year when the Welsh Rugby Union honours their services to the game.

There have been 54 referees from Wales who have controlled international matches. Of them Derek Bevan still holds the world record for the number of Tests he blew – 44. Bevan took over that record from Clive Norling who, in turn, succeeded the late Gwynne Walters. In addition Bevan is one of only four referees who have refereed World Cup finals.

At one stage Albert Freethy of Wales was the most capped referee in the world. He was the first man to send off a player in a Test – Cyril Brownlie of New Zealand and the last man to referee a final at the Olympic Games – in 1924 between France and the USA which the USA won.

The WRU CEO Steve Lewis said: "Even though some players and coaches are reluctant to admit it, without a referee you cannot have a game.

"We have always had exceptional referees in Wales and a number of them have been heralded around the world as the best in their time. But they have largely been unsung heroes.

"That's why, in the 125th anniversary season of the WRU, we felt it was about time we recognised the true Test status of our 54 international referees. There are 18 who are still alive and they will all receive an international cap to signify their achievements.

"We also intend to mark the contributions made by the other 36 through some posthumous award.

"Our referees and match officials group deals superbly with the recruitment, retention and development of referees. Theirs is never an easy task dealing with the often thorny issue of appointing match officials to both the community and elite game.

"We will shortly be establishing a Referees Academy, to mirror those for our players, which will be aimed at developing those referees who have the potential to be fast tracked into IRB appointments."

Among the 54 Welsh international referees several made deep impressions on rugby in Wales.

Eight played for Wales – Charles Lewis, Horace Lyne, William Phillips, Billy Douglas, Tom Williams, Harry Bowen, Gwyn Nicholls and Tommy Vile.
Two were treasurers of the WRU – Richard Mullock and Williams Wilkins.
One was the secretary of the WRU – Richard Mullock.
Five became President – Horace Lyne, Tommy Vile, Wilf Faull, Vernon Parfitt and Gwilym Treharne.

More recently, Ken Rowlands, Clive Norling and Rob Yeman worked for the WRU in their referees departments.

Current internationals Nigel Whitehouse and Nigel Owens, who are among the 18 living Welsh Test referees, will be on duty at the 2006 RBS Six Nations championship.

The 18 surviving Welsh international referees are: Meirion Joseph (Cwmavon), Ernie Lewis (Abertillery), Selwyn Lewis (Cwmgors), Cenydd Thomas (Pontypridd), Clive Norling (Birchgrove), Corris Thomas (Cardiff), Alun Richards (Caldicot), Ken Rowlands (Ynysybwl),Derek Bevan (Clydach), Les Peard (Castleton), Gareth Simmonds (Taffs Well), Rob Yeman (Taibach), Clayton Thomas (Bryncoch), Robert Davies (Dunvant), David Davies (Llanbradach), Nigel Whitehouse (Gowerton), Nigel Williams (Bryncoch), Nigel Owens (Pontyberem).

The list of Wales's international referees with the year of debut after each name.

D Herbert 1883
CP Lewis 1885
HS Lyne 1885
R Mullock 1886
WD Phillips 1887
WM Douglas 1891
W Wilkins 1893
T Williams 1904
DH Bowen 1905
A Llewellyn 1906
TD Schofield 1907
EG Nicholls 1909
EA Johns 1911
J Games 1909
TH Vile 1923
AE Freethy 1923
E Roberts 1924
WJ Llewellyn 1926
JW Faull 1936
TH Phillips 1936
I David 1938
T Jones 1947
VS Llewellyn 1951
VJ Parfutt 1953
DC Joynson 1955
WJ Evans 1958
DG Walters 1959
GJ Treharne 1960
FG Price 1963
DM Hughes 1965
M Joseph 1966
K Morgan 1967
WKM Jones 1968
R Lewis 1970
EM Lewis 1971
JC Kelleher 1973
MS Lewis 1975
DM Lloyd 1975
CGP Thomas 1977
C Norling 1978
C Thomas1979
W Jones 1984
A Richards 1980
K Rowlands 1980
WD Bevan 1985
LJ Peard 1989
G Simmonds 1992
R Yeman 1993
C Thomas 1995
R Davies 1997
D Davies 1998
NC Whitehouse 1998
NH Williams 2002
N Owens 2005

The list of Welsh referees by number of Tests:

44 Derek Bevan
25 Clive Norling
23 Gwynne Walters
22 Meirion Joseph
18 Albert Freethy
17 Clayton Thomas
16 Nigel Williams
15 Nigel Whitehouse
15 Ivor David
12 Tom Schofield, Tommy Vile
6 Trevor Jones, Ron Lewis, Gareth Simmonds, Robert Davies
5 Gwilym Treharne, Dai Hughes
4 Billy Douglas, Jeff Kelleher, Ken Rowlands, Alun Richards, Les Peard, Rob Yeman
3 William Wilkins, Jack Games, WJ Llewellyn, Wilf Faull, Ken Jones, Cenydd Thomas
2 William Phillips, Vernon Parfitt, Jack Evans, Denzil Lloyd, Selwyn Lewis, Corris Thomas, Winston Jones, David Davies, Nigel Owens
1 D Herbert, Charles Lewis, Horace Lyne, Richard Mullock, Tom Williams, Harry Bowen, Ack Llewellyn, Gwyn Nicholls, EA Johns, E Roberts, Harold Phillips, Viv Llewellyn, Cyril Joynson, Fred Price, Ken Morgan, Ernie Lewis

The actual Tests refereed by each referee:

D Herbert: 1882 W v E
Charles Lewis (Llandovery):  1885 W v E
Horace Lyne (Newport): 1885 E v I
Richard Mullock (Newport): 1886 I v E
William Phillips (Cardiff): 1887 I v E, 1889 I v S
Billy Douglas (Cardiff): 1891 I v E, 1894 E v I, 1896 S v E, 1903 E v S
William Wilkins (Llanelli): 1893 E v S, 1894 S v E, 1895 E v S
Tom Williams (Llwynypia): 1904 E v I
Harry Bowen (Llanelli): 1905 E v S
Ack Llewellyn (Pontypridd): 1906 E v I
Tommy Schofield (Bridgend): 1907 E v S, 1908 E v I , 1910 E v I, 1911 E v S, 1912 E v I, F v E, 1913 E v S, 1914 E v I, S v E, 1920 E v S, 1921 E v I, 1922 S v I
Jack Games (Abercarn): 1909 E v A, 1913 E v F, 1914 F v E
Gwyn Nicholls (Cardiff): 1909 E v S
E A Johns: 1911 E v F
Albert Freethy (Neath): 1923 F v E, 1924 E v F, F v US, I v NZ, 1925 E v NZ, I v S, S v E, F v E, 1926 E v F, 1927 F v E, 1928 I v E, E v F, 1929 E v  I, F v E, 1930 I v E, E v F, 1931 E v I, F v E
Tommy Vile (Newport): 1923  S v F, E v I, S v I, E v S, 1924 I v E, S v I, E v S, 1925 E v I, 1927 E v I, 1928 E v A, E v S, 1931 F v I
E Roberts: 1924 F v S
W J Llewellyn (Bridgend): 1926 F v S, I v E, 1928 S v A
Wilf Faull (Swansea): 1936 E v NZ, S v I, 1937 E v I
Harold Phillips (Pontypridd): 1936 E v S
Ivor David (Neath): 1938 E v S, 1939 S v E, 1947 E v S, 1952 S v F, I v S, E v I, 1953 S v I, 1954 S v F, E v NZ, S v NZ, F v NZ, F v E, 1955 I v F, 1956 F v E
Trevor Jones (Maesteg): 1947 E v F, 1948 E v I, F v E, 1949 E v F, 1950 S v F, 1951 I v E
Viv Lewellyn (Llansamlet): 1951 E v F
Vernon Parfitt (Newport): 1953 E v F, 1954 I v S
Cyril Joynson (Caerleon): 1955 E v S
Jack Evans (Cardiff): 1958 I v A, F v E
Gwynne Walters (Gowerton):1959 F v S, I v E, E v S, I v F, 1960 S v F, E v I, I v S, F v I, 1961 F v SA, E v F, 1962 E v I, F v E, 1963 E v S, F v R, 1964 E v I, F v E, F v I, F v Fj, 1965 I v F, S v I, E v S, S v SA, 1966 F v E
Gwilym Treharne (Port Talbot): 1960 I v SA, 1961 E v SA, I v E, I v F, 1963 S v I
Fred Price (Blaenavon): 1963 I v F
Dai Hughes (Llanelli): 1965 F v It, 1966 S v F, I v S, 1967 I v E, S v I
Meirion Joseph (Cwmavon): 1966 S v A, 1967 I v A, 1968 E v I, I v S, 1968 R v F, 1969 S v I, S v SA, 1970 S v E, 1971 I v E, S v E, 1972 S v F, S v E, 1973 I v NZ, S v PXV, F v J, 1974 E v I, 1975 F v Arg, 1976 E v A, F v A, 1977 E v S, S v I, F v S
Ken Morgan (Llandarcy): 1967 F v It
Ken  Jones (Llanelli): 1968 I v A, 1970 F v E, 1971 S v I
Ron Lewis (Llangynwyd): 1970 E v I, 1971 E v F, 1972 F v I, 1973 S v I, E v A, 1974 Arg v F(2)
Ernie Lewis (Abertillery): 1971 F v A
Jeff Kelleher (Llantwit Major): 1973 E v S, 1974 F v E, 1976 R v F, 1977 E v F
Denzil Lloyd (Nantyffyllon): 1975 I v F, 1976 S v E
Selwyn Lewis (Cwmgors): 1975 F v S, 1976 I v S
Cenydd Thomas (Pontypridd): 1977 F v NZ, 1978 S v F, F v I
Clive Norling (Birchgrove): 1978 I v NZ, 1979 E v S, 1980 F v E, 1981 I v F, NZ v SA(1,2), F v NZ, 1982 I v S, 1983 A v Arg(1,2), 1984 F v I, 1985 E v S, 1986 E v I, 1987 I v F – RWC: Can v Ton, F v Fj(1/4 F), 1988 E v I, R v F, 1989 NZ v Arg (1,2), 1990 I v S, A v F (1,2), 1991 Nam v I (1,2)
Corris Thomas (Cardiff): 1979 S v I, 1980 E v I
Ken Rowlands (Ynysybwl): 1980 SA v SAm(2), 1981 F v S, 1982 S v E, 1986 SA v Cv(4)
Alun Richards (Caldicot): 1980 R v F, 1981 A v F, 1982 E v A, 1983 F v S
Winston Jones (Cwmgors): 1984 S v F, NZ v F(2)
Derek Bevan (Clydach): 1985 E v R, 1986 F v E, NZ v A (1,2), 1987 RWC: NZ v It, F v Zim, A v NZ, 1988 I v Sam, 1990 NZ v S, 1991 I v F – RWC F v Fj, S v Sam (1/4 F), E v A (RWC Final), 1992 S v E, E v I, NZ v World XV (1,2), 1993 F v S, NZ v A, C v A, Arg v SA (1,2), 1994 S v F, NZ v F (1,2), 1995 S v I – RWC SA v A, NZ v S (1/4 F), SA v F (1/2 F), 1996 S v E, SA v NZ, F v SA, 1997 NZ v SA, F v SA, 1998 E v I, NZ v A, 1999 S v I, NZ v A – RWC I v Arg, NZ v Ton, E v Fj, Arg v F (1/4 F), A v SA (1/2 F), 2000 I v It
Les Peard (Castleton): 1989 I v E, 1991 E v F, F v R, E v USA
Gareth Simmonds (Taffs Well): 1992 E v C, 1993 Arg v Chile, Arg v Para, 1995 R v F, 1996 Arg v F, 1997 S v I
Rob Yeman (Taibach): 1993 I v R, Mor v Zim, Mor v Nam, 1994 NZ v SA
Clayton Thomas (Bryncoch): 1995 S v C, I v F – RWC: Arg v It, 1996 S v F, Arg v F, 1997 A v F (1,2), 1998 S v E, A v NZ, I v SA, 1999 F v S, Sam v F, Ton v F – RWC: I v A, S v Sp, 2000 S v E, USA v I
Robert Davies (Dunvant): 1997 I v It, 1998 I v Geo, 1999 S v It, 2000 It v NZ, 2001 E v S, It v Sam
David Davies (Llanbradach): 1998 It v S, C v Uru
Nigel Whitehouse (Gowerton): 2000 I v J, C v E, Arg v It, S v Ton, 2002 I v S, USA v C, I v Fj, 2003 S v I, 2004 It v S, J v It, It v USA, 2005 NZ v Fj, J v I, It v Arg, S v NZ
Nigel Williams (Bryncoch): 2002 NZ v It, Sp v It, I v Geo, S v SA, 2003 It v F, A v I, SA v Arg, E v F – RWC: Arg v Nam, Fj v Jap, E v Uru, 2004 I v S, NZ v E, SA v NZ,. S v SA, 2005 F v S, A v F
Nigel Owens (Pontyberem): 2005 J v I, Arg v Sa 

Nigel Williams refered 17 Tests, the same number as his uncle Clayton Thomas.