William Gwyn Hullin (2 January 1942 - 3 October 2012) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

scrum-half who played club rugby for

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

. He represented the Barbarians and played county rugby for Surrey and the London Counties. Hullin was capped only once 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 ...

, being unfortunate to be playing at the same time as

Gareth Edwards Gareth Edwards may refer to: *Gareth Edwards (Berkshire cricketer) (born 1973), English cricketer *Gareth Edwards (filmmaker) (born 1975), British filmmaker *Gareth Edwards (producer) (born 1965), British radio and television writer and producer *Ga ...

, one of the greatest scrum-halves in world rugby. Despite his lack of international caps, he was a regular first team club player, and toured overseas, with Cardiff, London Welsh and the Barbarians. He was also a successful Sevens player, finishing in the winning team in both the

Snelling Sevens The Snelling Sevens (also known as the Snelling Seven-a-Side Trophy and originally known as the Welsh Seven-a-Side Tournament) was an annual Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; ) is the governing body of rugby union in the country o ...

and the

Middlesex Sevens The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 T ...

Rugby career

Born in the town of

Loughor Loughor (; ) is a town in Swansea, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically in Glamorgan, it lies on the estuary of the River Loughor (). The town has a community (Wales), community council under the name Llwchwr. The town is bordered by ...

, in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, Hullin played rugby as a boy, representing his school Dynevor Grammar, and progressed to play for the Wales Secondary Schools team.Jenkins (1991) p.76 As a senior Hullin played for

Mumbles Mumbles () is a headland sited on the western edge of Swansea Bay on the southern coast of Wales. Toponym Mumbles has been noted for its place names considered unusual, unusual place name. The headland is thought by some to have been named by ...

before switching to

Aberavon Aberavon () is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Por ...

, where he was part of the team that helped the club win the unofficial Western Mail Championship for the only time. He spent a brief season at Swansea RFC before being selected by Welsh rivals Cardiff in the 1963/64 season. By the following season he was a first team regular, playing in 33 matches and scoring 12 tries. In the 1966/67 side he was made vice-captain of the senior team under

Keith Rowlands Keith Alun Rowlands (7 February 1936 – 18 November 2006), was a Welsh international lock rugby union player and later administrator, who was the first chief executive officer of the International Rugby Board. Playing career Rowlands was born ...

. Hullin's most notable game was for Cardiff occurred on 5 November 1966 when he was part of the team that faced

John Thornett John Edward Thornett, MBE (30 March 1935 – 4 January 2019) was an Australian rugby union player, who played 37 Tests for Australia between 1955 and 1967 and made an additional 77 representative match appearances. He captained Australia in 16 ...

's touring Australian team. Cardiff won the match 14 - 8, their fourth successive win over the Australian national side.Davies (1975) p. 153 Hullin was influential throughout, scoring the match-winner after out-smarting his opposite number

Ken Catchpole Kenneth William Catchpole (21 June 1939 – 21 December 2017) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A state and national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matches for Australia, thirteen as captain. Catchpole rose through th ...

, scoring a try and a drop goal. He also made the break for Ken Jones to score a try. The 1966/67 season also saw Hullin break into the Wales squad when he was selected for the Welsh opener of the

1967 Five Nations Championship The 1967 Five Nations Championship was the thirty-eighth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the seventy-third series of the northern hemisphere r ...

, played away against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Hullin was paired at half-back, with his Cardiff teammate and fellow international debutant,

Barry John Barry John (6 January 1945 – 4 February 2024) was a Welsh rugby union fly-half who played in the 1960s and early 1970s during the amateur era of the sport. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RF ...

. Despite some excellent players in the team, the Welsh play was unimaginative, often negative, and they lost 11–5. Hullin was dropped the next game and never represented Wales again. Hullin continued to represent Cardiff and was also given his first invite to represent invitational tourists, the Barbarians, that same season. Hullin left Cardiff at the end of the 1968/69 season. He made a total of 152 appearances over 6 seasons scoring 43 tries. The 1968/69 season ended with the third Barbarians overseas tour. Hullin's last act as a Cardiff RFC representative, was to tour with fellow Cardiff teammate

John O'Shea John Francis O'Shea (; born 30 April 1981) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who is currently assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland men's national team. He was known for his versatility in playing several defensi ...

. The African tour took in six matches from 10 to 26 May 1969. A different member of the touring side was selected to act as team captain for each of the games, and Hullin was given the honour of leading the team out for the encounter against the

South African Barbarians South African Barbarians is an invitational rugby union club styled along the lines of Barbarian F.C. It was formed in 1960 by Frank Mellish, the former 1951–52 Springbok selector and manager, together with former Natal Rugby Union President, ...

. The South Africans won 23–11. At the age of 28, Hullin's career in banking had taken him to London, and there he was welcomed into Welsh exiles team, London Welsh. Described as a fine strategist, he spent seven years at the club.Jones (1985) p.169 In 1972 Hullin was part of the London Welsh team to undertake their first overseas tour, to Ceylon. The team, containing several Welsh internationals, played six matches, winning them all.

Rugby sevens

Hullin was also a regular Sevens player for Cardiff, and represented them in 10 tournaments. Edwards never played Sevens for Cardiff, and Hullin was rewarded with two

title wins with the Blues in 1966 and 1969. It was a late try from Hullin in the final against

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

in the 1969 final that gave Cardiff the title.Davies (1975) p.159 He continued his association with Sevens rugby when he switched to London Welsh, where he played a crucial role in the team's success in the

. On 10 May 1975 he was captain of the Welsh Presidents in the Ulster Invitation Centenary Sevens at Ravenhill in Belfast.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hullin, Billy 1942 births 2012 deaths Aberavon RFC players Barbarian F.C. players Cardiff RFC players London Welsh RFC players Rugby union players from Swansea Rugby union scrum-halves Swansea RFC players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players London Counties rugby union players