Philip Bennett

Philip Bennett

Phil Bennett belongs to the select group of players who have played 20 or more games for the Barbarians. In his case his 20 appearances included ten as team captain and a grand total of 189 points. They also included matches against the national teams of Scotland and Fiji (both in 1970), New Zealand (1973 and 1978) and Canada and Australia (in 1976).Philip Bennett was born in Felinfoel on 24 October 1948 and educated at Coleshill School in Llanelli. He played all his senior rugby for the local club, captaining them for six seasons and amassing a career total of 2532 points in 412 games. His 29 caps for Wales included his debut as his country's first-ever replacement against France in 1969. A mercurial fly-half, he played a total of 26 games for the British Isles, including eight tests, and scored 226 points on the tours to South Africa in 1974 and New Zealand in 1977. He was also the Lions' captain in the latter and on his return in September 1977 led the Lions against the Barbarians in the historic Queen's Silver Jubilee Match at Twickenham.