Peter Corrigan: Trew story of injustice

To captain your team to a rugby Grand Slam is an honour. To do it twice is a rarity. John Gwilliam was captain of Wales when they won the Grand Slams of 1950 and 1952, and that achievement gained him entry into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame last weekend.

To captain your team to a rugby Grand Slam is an honour. To do it twice is a rarity. John Gwilliam was captain of Wales when they won the Grand Slams of 1950 and 1952, and that achievement gained him entry into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame last weekend.

At an enjoyable dinner in Cardiff, Gwilliam was inducted into the roll of honour along with the champion hurdler Colin Jackson, the Wales football manager John Toshack and the boxer Steve Robinson. Gwilliam stole the show with tales of his playing days. "They tell me the game is much faster these days. I suppose that must be true, because our winger Ken Jones only won a silver medal in the 100m at the 1948 Olympics," he said.

But he felt guilty at being hailed as the only player to captain Wales to two Grand Slams because of what the selectors did to the Swansea winger Billy Trew in 1911. Trew was the Wales captain when they won the Slam in 1909, and two years later he was heading for the honour again when they went to play France in Paris. But at the last minute Trew was deposed by the selectors, who decided to give the captaincy for this match to the Cardiff winger Johnny Williams, "because he could speak French".