Richard Clement Charles "Clem" Thomas (28 January 1929 – 5 September 1996)
/ref> was a international rugby union player. A flanker, he represented Cambridge University R.U.F.C. in the

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

in 1949 and played for

Brynamman Brynamman () is a village on the south side of the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountain (''Y Mynydd Du''), part of the Brecon Beacons National Park (''Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog''). The village is split into Upper Brynamman and Lower ...

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 ...

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 ...

and Harlequins. He earned 26 caps for Wales, between 1949 and 1959 and captained Wales in his last nine internationals. After retiring as a player he became a rugby union journalist and author of books on the game.

Rugby career

Thomas first came to note as a rugby player while still a school-boy. A boarder at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent co-educational boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon, T ...

in Tiverton he gained four Wales School-boy caps while at the school. He gained his first full senior cap in the match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the

1949 Five Nations Championship The 1949 Five Nations Championship was the twentieth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the fifty-fifth series of the northern hemisphere rugby u ...

.Obituary of Clem Thomas, The Independent, 6 September 1996
/ref> Thomas was also a member of the last Wales team that defeated the New Zealand All Blacks in 1953. In fact, it was Thomas's cross field kick that enabled Ken Jones, the flying Welsh winger, to gather the ball and touch down for the winning try. Thomas toured South Africa with the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

in 1955. He was taken ill shortly after the start of the tour and was operated on for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

, which caused him to miss the first ten tour matches. He spent part of his recuperation on a farm owned by the South African pilot Sailor Malan and rejoined the tour in time to be selected for the final two test matches against .

Tony O'Reilly Sir Anthony John Francis O'Reilly (7 May 1936 – 18 May 2024) was an Irish businessman and international rugby union player. He was known for his try scoring in rugby, his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from ...

, writing after Thomas's death, felt that if Thomas had been available for all four games the Lions might have won the series rather than drawing it 2–2. Thomas captained the Lions team in the game against .

Personal history

Clem Thomas was born in

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 educated at

and St. John's College, Cambridge. He was married twice, to Ann Barter in 1954 and Joyce Rowley in 1980 and had three sons and one daughter with his first wife. One of his sons, Greg Thomas, was the Head of Media on the

2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa The 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009. The British & Irish Lions played a three-match Test series against South Africa, with matches in ...

. Clem Thomas was a butcher by trade but when he retired from playing rugby he took up journalism and worked for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' for 35 years and then ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' for the last two years of his life. He co-authored the book ''Welsh Rugby'' with Geoff Nicholson and wrote ''The History of the British and Irish Lions'' which he completed shortly before his death. Thomas also owned

's No Sign Bar in the 1960s: historian Peter Stead has argued that the popularity of

Beaujolais Day Beaujolais nouveau ( , ) is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France. It is a ''Nouveau, vin de primeur'', Fermentation in winemaking, fermented just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Th ...

in the city can be traced to this period: Thomas also owned a house in Burgundy and could transport the newly released Beaujolais quickly and cheaply to south Wales for sale. Thomas also took part in politics. He stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in two general elections for the UK parliament, contesting

Gower The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards the Bristol Channel ...

in February 1974 and

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and in the first direct elections for the European Parliament in

Mid and West Wales Mid and West Wales or Mid and South West Wales is an ambiguous region of Wales that is sometimes used, consisting broadly of the preserved counties of Dyfed and Powys, sometimes Swansea and sometimes parts of Gwynedd. It is also used sometimes ...

. He died in Swansea in 1996 aged 67.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Clem 1929 births 1996 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales British sportsperson-politicians Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Coventry R.F.C. players Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at Blundell's School Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Cardiff Swansea RFC players The Observer people Wales international rugby union players Wales rugby union captains Welsh rugby union players Welsh sportswriters