Kenneth Jeffrey Jones

Kenneth Jeffrey Jones

Kenneth Jeffrey Jones was born in Blaenavon on 30 December 1921 and educated at West Mon School and Loughborough College. An international sprinter of renown, he won a relay silver medal at the 1948 London Olympics and in 1954 competed in the European Championships and the British Empire & Commonwealth Games. By then he was already capped by Wales on the wing and went on to play in every post-war international from January 1947 until March 1956. When he was recalled for another match in 1957 he had extended his Welsh cap record to 44 and 17 tries. He captained Wales against Scotland in 1954 and also led the Newport club for two seasons. In 1950 he was an automatic choice to tour Australasia with the British Isles and scored 16 tries in 17 appearances, including three tests. In 1953 he scored a hat-trick of tries for the Barbarians against Leicester and was captain against Penarth in 1956. He also played for the Barbarians against South Africa in 1952 and New Zealand two years later. Ken Jones died on 19 April 2006, aged 84.