By Owain Jones
When Welsh rugby rejoiced in 2005, after lifting a first Grand Slam in 27 years, Gerald Davies mellifluously recounted in his dulcet tones that silverware had been lifted after playing ‘the Welsh way’. That is, by playing on their wits, seeking evasion and not collision, as the likes of Shane Williams, Kevin Morgan and Dwayne Peel outwitted their more cumbersome opponents under Mike Ruddock.
In many ways, the ‘Welsh way’ chimes with that of the Barbarians. They too seek to entertain, to conjure magic and to lift the crowd from their feet with a sense of adventure and derring-do. Their meeting on Saturday, June 27, will be a meeting of minds and soul to ultimately celebrate our storied game. In that spirit, to whet the appetite, we have picked a band of brothers for the ages, packed with bravery, elan and guile; our greatest Welsh Barbarians XV…
15. JPR Williams
Like so many of his brethren in the Seventies, JPR was known simply by his initials, and he represented the Barbarians with pride on 11 occasions, most famously in 1973 for ‘that try’, when taking a pass from Phil Bennett. Williams was a player of immense strength, who preferred playing flanker for his local club, Tondu, to the full-back position he became famous for. On top of winning three Grand Slams for Wales, he also represented the British & Irish Lions on two tours while practicing as a full-time orthopaedic surgeon. JPR passed away in Cardiff in 2024, aged 74.
14. Gerald Davies
Before becoming a respected sportswriter and rugby administrator, Davies cut a dash as one of the most devastating purveyors of wing play the game had ever seen. His side-stepping and ability to wrong-foot opposition defenders was unrivalled and in his ten appearances for the BaaBaas, he scored eight tries, captaining them against the British & Irish Lions in 1977. Davies was another celebrated Welshman to pick up a hat-trick of Grand Slams and along with JJ Williams, he terrorised leaden-footed forwards.
13. Allan Bateman
World Cup winner Will Greenwood can spot quality from a distance and when asked for the best centre partner he ever played with, without missing a beat, he said, ‘Allan Bateman’. The boy from Maesteg, a British & Irish Lions in 1997, was nicknamed ‘The Clamp’ for never missing a tackle and his elegant running lines and selflessness saw him beloved by team-mates. Bateman, who will play for the Barbarians aged 61 to raise funds for Penarth RFC, was a perfect foil for the explosive Scott Gibbs.
12. Scott Gibbs
After rocking 6ft 3in, 21 st Afrikaner pin-up prop Os du Randt on his rump in a thunderous collision on the 1997 British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa, Jeremy Guscott quipped that Gibbs was the ‘fastest prop in the world’. Indeed the sight of a bullocking Gibbs on the rampage or stopping defenders in their tracks, was a joy to behold, if you weren’t facing him. Gibbs pulled on the black and white hoops against Australia, a New Zealand XV and Scotland in a superlative career that saw him reach cult status.
11. Shane Williams
If there was ever a player born to wear a Barbarians shirt and entertain the masses, it was Shane Mark Williams. Diminutive in stature, the hot-stepper from the Amman Valley started his professional career as a scrum-half before switching to wing during the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Over the next eight years he scored 60 Test tries and sits behind only Daisuke Ohata, David Campese and Bryan Habana in the all-time list. Williams played for the BaaBaas on two occasions, finishing his career in 2012 playing for them against Wales at a packed out Millennium Stadium.
10. Phil Bennett
‘Brilliant, oh that’s brilliant’. When Phil Bennett sidestepped Alistair Scown and Ian Kirkpatrick, commentator Cliff Morgan spoke for every fan when witnessing Felinfoel’s favourite son starting the‘Greatest Try of All Time’. ‘Benny’ as he was affectionately known, represented the Barbarians on a remarkable 20 occasions, racking up 181 points, with ten as team captain. A celebrated British & Irish Lion, Bennett was a will-o’ the wisp type character who could ghost through defences and leave hisown team-mates agog. He passed away, aged 73, in 2022.
9. Gareth Edwards
Such was Edwards’ prodigious talent, he was talent-spotted in West Wales, to attend the prestigious Millfield School. A teenage gymnast and accomplished footballer, his athleticism was such that many commentators, including Will Carling, felt certain that he would have thrived in any era. Still considered by rugby’s cognoscenti as the greatest player ever, his strength, balance and reading of the game were all top-drawer and such was his brilliance that he could win games on his own, in a similar way to France’s Antoine Dupont. His ten appearances for the BaaBaas saw crowds rise in anticipation of his next feat of wizardry.
8. Scott Quinnell
When Scott Quinnell left for Rugby League in 1994, rumour has it that instead of calling the Welshman by his name, such was the reverence his team-mates held in his physicality that they nicknamed him ‘****ing hell’. Ironically, Quinnell was the smallest of three brothers, Gavin and Craig, who were also Barbarians. Even so, at 6ft 4ins and 19st and was known to hold his own against an opposition’s pack in the argy-bargy stakes. Despite his prodigious size, Quinnell could shift and had soft hands to put others into gaps. A British & Irish Lion, Quinnell is now a respected pundit and TV personality.
7. Justin Tipuric
The ‘Trebanos Terror’ was famed for his bright blue scrum-cap that would track the ball like a heat- seeker missile. Lavishly gifted, it was often joked that the silky backrow could play in any position on the pitch. He was a brilliant back of the lineout jumper, a resolute defender who once went 176 tackles without missing his man, a stellar link man and player with a highlights reel to trump the majority of his contemporaries. Playing for the Barbarians against England in 2018, he offloaded off the deck in an impossible position to Chris Ashton leaving the commentator purring. ‘Tips’ was the real deal.
6. Derek Quinnell
There is celebrated footage of a bearded Quinnell barging past policemen in the bowels of National Stadium, Cardiff, when his name was called to make his debut for Wales in1972, to replace the great Mervyn Davies, such was his fervour to represent his country. A teak-tough backrow, who could play at No 6 or No 8, in this hypothetical line-up, with his behemoth son rampaging alongside him, there would be no liberties taken and no rib-cage spared. Quinnell Snr represented the BaaBaas with distinction on ten occasions, including the iconic 1973 game against New Zealand.
5. Alun Wyn Jones
It was fitting that Alun Wyn Jones, the all-time record international cap holder, who had represented Wales and the British & Irish Lions on 170 occasions, wanted to finish his career playing for the Barbarians, and that is what he did in 2023 when he was named in a line-up to face Wales in Cardiff. Wyn Jones was a multi-talented lock, famed for his durability and intense focus. A tourist on four British & Irish Lion tours, captaining the Test side in Australia and South Africa, the Mumbles-born Welsh icon never lost his competitive zeal, but he evolved his game over the years to become an all-court player and his offloading out of contact wouldn’t have looked out of place in the NBA.
4. Robert ‘Bob’ Norster
Bob Norster was one of the finest proponents of lineout play in world rugby during the Eighties. Famed domestically with Cardiff Rugby club, where he made 253 appearances, he was routinely thrown up at the set-piece, rising like a salmon to pluck a ball out of the skies and secure the ball for the Welsh backline. He was a popular Barbarian, turning out for them on eight occasions between 1982 and 1988, and post rugby became a respected player agent.
3. Adam Jones
Few Welshmen have been as loved as ‘Bomb’. The curly-haired tight-head prop from the Swansea Valleys became a mainstay in the Welsh pack for a decade, locking down the scrum and building a cult-status among fans. He won three Grand Slams and toured with the British & Irish Lions on two occasions. Jones played for the Barbarians against an Irish XV in Limerick in 2015 and his natural bonhomie endeared him to team-mates. Jones is now a hugely respected scrum-coach with Harlequins who has helped bring through England internationals, Kyle Sinckler and Fin Baxter.
2. Bobby Windsor
The ‘Duke’ was part of the revered VietGwent front row, as immortalised by Max Boyce, alongside Charlie Faulkner and Graham Price. By day he was a steelworker, but he forged a memorable domestic career with Pontypool, playing 325 games for them, while winning 28 caps for Wales and touring with the British & Irish Lions on two occasions. A free scoring, abrasive hooker, Windsor played for the Barbarians on five occasions between 1973 and 1974.
1.Graham Price
Like Windsor, Price was a Pontypool legend, playing a remarkable 567 games for them. He excelled internationally as well, as a loosehead before his time, scoring a never-to-be-forgotten try against France in Paris, which led commentator Nigel Starmer-Smith to exclaim, ‘they’ll never believe it in Pontypool’.
Price also started a record 12 British & Irish Lions Test in succession, which is still a record. A Barbarian on two occasions, Price is a columnist for WalesOnline and an MBE for his services to rugby.
Tickets for Barbarians v Wales Double Header – Allianz Stadium – Twickenham 27 June are available via Ticketmaster.co.uk and England Rugby, starting from just £20* for adults and £10* for under- 16s. (*booking fees apply)
