Geoffrey Wheel (30 June 1951 – 26 December 2024) was a Wales international rugby union player who attained 32 international caps. A lock-forward, he played club rugby for

Mumbles RFC Mumbles Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Mumbles, Swansea, south Wales. Mumbles RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union, and is a feeder club for the Ospreys. They compete in the WRU Division Two West, the fifth tier of ...

and then

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Super Rygbi Cymru. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

. Wheel made his international debut on 2 February 1974 versus Ireland and between 1974 and 1982 he formed a formidable second-row partnership for Wales with Allan Martin during the second 'golden-age' of the Wales international team. In 1977 Wheel, along with

Willie Duggan William Patrick Duggan (12 March 1950 – 28 August 2017) was an Irish international rugby union player. He won 41 Irish caps, the first in 1975 and finished his international career in 1984 as captain. He toured New Zealand in 1977 with the ...

of Ireland, became the first players to be sent off in a Five Nations international match. Wheel was the organist in the Parish of St Thomas in Swansea where he also ran Geoff's Tuck Shop at the Boys Brigade every Wednesday. In 2011 he agreed to become the president of a Welsh male voice choir, the Swansea-based Gwalia Singers. Wheel died from

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

on 26 December 2024, at the age of 73.

References

1951 births 2024 deaths Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Swansea Deaths from motor neuron disease in the United Kingdom Swansea RFC players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Rugby union locks Neurological disease deaths in Wales {{wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub