Donald James Hayward (30 June 1925 – 16 February 1999) was a Welsh international prop who played club rugby for Newbridge and Wigan RLFC. He won 15 caps for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand. Hayward is considered to be one of the finest forwards to represent Wales in the early post-war period. He was an excellent lineout specialist and was an aggressive mauler in the loose. Hayward was also an extremely strong tackler and played with total conviction.

Rugby career

Born in 1925 in Pontypool and played for 'second class' team Newbridge, who before 1939 would rarely be selected for Welsh trials, but this changed after World War II. With an improved list of opponents, and an impressive roster of players, Newbridge gained trials for several of its players including Hayward and Ray Cale who were both selected. Hayward was first selected for Wales in 1949 after Rees Stephens pulled out of the game against England. Although Stephens regained his place, Hayward was back in the 1950 season and held his place throughout the Five Nations Championships in 1950 through to 1953. In 1951, Hayward faced the touring South Africans on two occasions, as part of the Welsh pack, and also as part of a joint Newbridge /

Pontypool Pontypool ( ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in South Wales. , it has a population of 29,062. Locat ...

side. Although Newbridge were beaten by the Springboks, it was an historic game and Hayward proved a formidable opponent. Hayward would later emigrate to New Zealand, but returned to Britain to play

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

International matches played

Wales * 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 * 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 * 1950, 1951, 1952 * 1950, 1951, 1952 * 1951

British Lions

During the 1950 British Lions tour Hayward was over-selected in the early games, playing in the first three tests against New Zealand, but looked tired in the third test and was far below his normal form. In total he played 18 matches on the tour. * 1950, 1950, 1950

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayward, Don 1925 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Newbridge RFC players Rugby league players from Pontypool Rugby league props Rugby union players from Pontypool Rugby union locks Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Wigan Warriors players