John Gwilliam
| Full name | John Albert Gwilliam | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 28 February 1923 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Pontypridd, Wales | ||||||||||||
| Date of death | 21 December 2016 (aged 93) | ||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | teacher | ||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | No 8 | ||||||||||||
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| Amateur clubs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | ||
| National team(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1947–1954 | Wales | 23 | (0) |
John Albert Gwilliam (28 February 1923 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh rugby union player and schoolteacher. As a "No. 8" he played international rugby for Wales and club rugby for Cambridge University, Edinburgh Wanderers, Gloucester, Newport, London Welsh, Llanelli and Wasps. He captained the Wales rugby union team when they achieved Grand Slam victories in the 1950 and 1952 Five Nations Championships.
Gwilliam was born in Pontypridd, the son of Thomas Albert and Adela Audrey Gwilliam. He attended Monmouth School and went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1941 to read history. After spending a year at Cambridge, he was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment and saw action in Europe. The historian Max Hastings reported an incident at Rathau where Gwilliam was carrying a small German soldier by the scruff of his neck. Asked why he didn't just shoot the man, Gwilliam purportedly replied "Oh no sir. Much too small".
After the war, Gwilliam played rugby union for Newport for two seasons, and returned to to study at Cambridge where he played for the University. After leaving Cambridge he became a schoolmaster, initially at Glenalmond College, Perth from 1949 to 1952, and while in Scotland played for Edinburgh Wanderers.
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