Rex Willis
| Full name | William Rex Willis | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 25 October 1924 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ystrad Rhondda, Wales | ||||||||||||
| Date of death | 19 January 2000 (aged 75) | ||||||||||||
| School |
The Cathedral School, Llandaff Pangbourne Nautical College |
||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | businessman | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | Scrum half | ||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
| Amateur clubs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | ||
| ? ?-1956 1951-1954 |
Llandaff RFC Cardiff RFC Barbarian F.C. |
||
| National team(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1950-1955 1950 |
Wales British Lions |
21 3 |
(0) (0) |
Rex Willis (25 October 1924 – 19 January 2000) was a Welsh international rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby for Cardiff and invitational rugby for the Barbarians. He won 21 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand.
He played the last half-hour of the 1952 Five Nations Championship against Scotland with his jaw broken in several places.
Willis was educated in England before boarding at The Cathedral School, Llandaff, and at Pangbourne Nautical College in Berkshire. During WW2 he served in the Royal Navy. He returned to Wales once he was demobilised. He initially joined Cardiff based rugby club Llandaff before later switching to Cardiff RFC. At Cardiff he was the under-study for Welsh captain, Haydn Tanner and would cover his position while Tanner was away on international duties. During this period Willis linked up with fellow Rhondda born Cardiff player, Cliff Morgan, a relationship that would last throughout their club and country careers.
When Tanner retired during the 1949/50 season, Willis was promoted into his position and gained regular first-class rugby. Although ignored for Welsh trials during 1949, the disastrous Five Nations Championship of that year forced the selectors to look for a new half-back partnership. Willis was chosen alongside team mate Billy Cleaver to face England at Twickenham in the opening game of the 1950 Championship in front of the largest crowd ever seen to date at the stadium. Willis had an excellent match, releasing Cleaver, who in turn controlled the match which saw Wales win the game. In the next game against Scotland, Willis protected Cleaver from the Scottish back row which resulted in Cleaver scoring a drop goal. With tries from Thomas and Ken Jones Wales ran in easy winners after subduing the Scottish pack in the first half of the game. Willis kept his place for the next game in a narrow win against Ireland, which saw Wales lift the Triple Crown, and in the final game, victory over France resulted in the first Grand Slam for Wales since 1911.
...
Wikipedia