TREW
,
WILLIAM JOHN
(
1878
-
1926
),
Wales and Swansea rugby centre three-quarter
;
b.
1878
, he was one of the most distinguished of a famous band of rugby
centre three-quarters
who played for
Wales
at the beginning of the present century.
Trew
was first ‘capped’ for
Wales
in
1900
and by
1913
he had appeared in no fewer than twenty-nine international matches and had captained the
Welsh XV
on many occasions. Although primarily a
centre three-quarter
, he at one time shared the duties at
half-back
with
R. M.
Owen
(q.v.)
, and together they developed an attacking technique which invariably bewildered and confused their opponents.
Trew
captained
the
Swansea
team on the famous occasion in
Dec. 1912
, when, after
Wales
had lost to the
South Africans
,
Swansea
beat that famous combination by a try to nothing. A great incident in
Trew
's career was the demonstration following on
Wales
winning the
Triple Crown
in
1908
. After
Wales
had beaten
Ireland
at
Swansea
in the last match,
Trew
was carried triumphantly through the town in a procession of thousands of people. At the time of his death,
Trew
was the
licensee
of the
Brooklands Hotel
,
Oxford Street
,
Swansea
. He was married and had four children. He d.
20 Aug. 1926
.
Bibliography:
-
W. J. T. Collins
,
Rugby Recollections
, 1948
, 15;
-
The Times
,
21 Aug. 1926
;
-
Western Mail
,
21 Aug. 1926
.
Author:
Dr Moelwyn Idwal Williams, M.A., Aberystwyth
