Wales vs England: 1947-67

Welsh rule!

War over, the Five Nations got into urgent action again, and in this period Wales dominated. There were 21 matches between England and Wales. England won six, Wales eleven and four were drawn.

We give each match this time as we are getting closer to living memory!

18 January 1947: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park

It was the first match for the two countries after World War II. England had 14 new caps Wales 13. Only Dicky Guest of England and Haydn Tanner and Howard Davies of Wales had played Tests before the war.

It was Bleddyn Williams's first cap and the only time he played flyhalf for Wales, a position he did not enjoy.

The upper deck of the north stand was out of use because of wartime land-mine damage. Changes to the programme were announced by a man carrying a board around the ground.

England won 9-6 despite losing Keith Scott after 15 minutes. Mickey Steele-Bodger came out of the pack to replace Scott.

17 January 1948: The match was played at Twickenham.

Ken Jones scored a try and South African Sid Newman, who was at Oxford after his days as a prisoner-of-war, kicked a penalty and Ken Jones scored a try as the teams drew 3-all

There were ten Cardiff players kin the Welsh side, the biggest club representation in a team in the championship.

15 January 1949: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

Nim Hall dropped a goal for England, the first with the drop worth three points. When he had dropped a goal against Wales in 1947, it was worth four points.

Wales won 9-3.

Ken Jones of Wales and Jack Gregory of England had been in the same British relay team which had won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in 1948.

Hooker Bunny Travers played for Wales, ten years after his last appearance. He was 35. His father George had hooked 25 times for Wales.

21 January 1950: The match was played at Twickenham.

There was a record crowd of 75 532. The RFU decided that all future matches would be all-ticket affairs.

In 1949 England had had nine new caps for this fixture. In 1950 they did likewise.

Wales won 11-5, only their second win at Twickenham ever and their first since 1933.

The Welsh star was Lewis Jones at the age of 18. He was another great Welsh player who went north.

20 January 1951: The match was played at St Helen's Ground.

Again selectorial whims persisted and England had ten new caps for this match. Wales had one new caps and eleven Lions who had toured Down Under.

Wales won 23-5

19 January 1952: The match was played at Twickenham.

Wales won 8-6 but at one stage they looked in disarray. Bleddyn Williams pulled out on the morning of the match. Jack Matthews was called up and changed to play, but instead the Welsh sent Alun Thomas onto he field. Lewis Jones was injured and Len Blythe, Alan Thomas's brother-in-law, came out of the pack to take his place. No wonder England led 6-0. But Cliff Morgan did magic and Ken Jones sprinted in for two tries.

17 January 1953: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

They dropped Cliff Morgan! Can you imagine New Zealand dropping Sean Fitzpatrick, South Africa dropping Danie Gerber, Australia dropping John Eales, Ireland dropping Jackie Kyle, England dropping Martin Johnson and Scotland dropping Gavin Hastings in their prime? Wales dropped Cliff Morgan. Rex Willis was unable to play scrumhalf because of a shoulder injury, and so they dropped his flyhalf, the great Cliff Morgan, as well! They decided that Clifford Isaac Morgan would not be good enough without Rex Willis. In his place they brought in Roy Burnett of Newport, who never played for Wales again.

England won 8-3.

16 January 1954: The match was played at Twickenham.

It was the first all-ticket Test at Twickenham.

Chris Winn scored in the last minute to give England a 9-6 victory, three tries to one and a penalty. The victory came in the last minute. Alun Thomas failed to find touch and England came racing back on the counter and Chris Winn scored the winner.

England's last victory over Wales at Twickenham had been in 1939.

22 January 1955: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

The match was postponed a week because of snow. The match day itself was miserable with rain followed by thick mist.

Arthur Edwards, a late replacement for Garfield Owen who was injured at practice when he cut his knee on brambles at the Glamorgan Wanderers ground, kicked the penalty that won the match 3-0 for Wales.

21 January 1956: The match was played at Twickenham.

England had ten new caps and brought back Vic Roberts after five years' absence. Great things were expected of the match as several of the 1955 Lions who had thrilled in South Africa were on the field, but it was a drab match.

19 January 1957: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

Keith Maddocks, a debutant on the wing, went off-side, and Fenwick Allison goaled a penalty goal and England won 3-0. Maddocks never played for Wales again.

18 January 1958: The match was played at Twickenham.

Terry Davies kicked a penalty and the match was drawn 3-all. Some Welsh supporters returned to the field under cover of the darkness and removed part of the crossbar that had seen Davies's kick fly over. Later a certain Fred Mathias of Manorbier wrote to the RFU to apologise for the damage.

It was a match the superior England side should have won easily but Cliff Morgan proved his greatness on defence.

Wales played in plain red jerseys as the manufacturer had sent practice jerseys by mistake.

17 January 1959: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

Rain and pools of water made playing hard but Dewi Bebb scored a try. Terry Davies kicked the conversion. What was unusual was that he did not have anybody to place the ball because the laws had changed.

Wales won 5-0.

16 January 1960: The match was played at Twickenham.

England won 14-6, its biggest win against Wales since 1921. Richard Sharp came in for Bev Risman at flyhalf and ran rings around the Welsh.

21 January 1961: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

Wales won 6-3, thanks to two outstanding tries run in by Dewi Bebb.

20 January 1962: The match was played at Twickenham.

England and Wales drew 0-0.

Wales had chances to win but 20-year-old Kel Coslett of Aberavon missed five penalty attempts at goal and Glamorgan cricketer Alan Rees four drops. Coslett and Rees went off to rugby league.

19 January 1963: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

This was England's only win in Cardiff in 13 matches between 1959 and 1991. They won 13-6 with six new caps in their pack on an icy field. England scored two tries, the first by Malcolm Phillips a gem.

18 January 1964: The match was played at Twickenham.

The match was drawn 6-all, two tries apiece. England scored two tries in the first ten minutes through John Ranson and David Perry, but then Dewi Bebb scored two tries for Wales.

16 January 1965: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

Terry Price made his debut. He was still a schoolboy at Llanelli Grammar School. He was 19. Later he went to league and then to gridiron.

The English accused Brian Thomas of biting their centre Geoff Frankcom, who showed the bite marks in the changingroom after the match. Thomas was dropped for Wales' next match.

There had been radical law changes at this time intended to create more space for backs. The 10-yard (now metre) law at line-outs was introduced and the hindmost foot became the off-side line at scrums and mauls.

15 January 1966: The match was played at Twickenham.

Wales won 11-6. The great Alun Pask scored the winner after Terry Price's boot had kept Wales in the game.

15 April 1967: The match was played at Cardiff Arms Park.

Keith Jarrett of Newport, making his debut, scored 19 points. He became the second Welsh fullback after Vivian Jenkins to score a Test try. He was 18. There is a story that late after the match he sought a bus home to Newport. The buses had ceased running. He got to the depot to ask if there was a bus. An inspector ordered a driver to get a bus. The driver came back with a single-decker. The inspector was angry and said: "Get Mr Jarrett a double-decker. He may want to smoke."

This match was played later in the year than usual - and in much better weather - because the Wallabies had toured and the Five Nations was pushed back.

Wales won 34-21.

By Paul Dobson