Your Club Your Lions

For a Welsh rugby player, there are three major milestones to tick off in a career: Represent your country, earn selection for The British & Irish Lions - and be invited to play for Crawshay's Welsh.

"Crawshay's is renowned for its approach. We hardly ever kick the ball"

By Charlie Bennett

The invitational touring side has a long and illustrious history since its formation in 1922, with no less than 88 Lions pulling on its famous shirt. The names roll off the tongue: JPR Williams, Phil Bennett, Steve Fenwick, Shane Williams, Delme Thomas and Adam Jones are to name just a few.

The club plays six fixtures a year, with annual matches against Oxford University and Cambridge University a long-established tradition. But it is also known for its legendary tours, with the likes of Thailand, Latvia and Poland all hosting Crawshay's teams - as well as traditional rugby nations South Africa and France. Team manager Ian Brice played for Crawshay's Welsh in the 1970s, and is proud of the way the club has stuck to its traditions - while the sport continues to evolve in the modern era.

"The rugby was always great but what stood out for me was the camaraderie side of it. That is what we have always been about," he said. "Crawshay's is renowned for its approach. We hardly ever kick the ball, we run it from everywhere. And we have had players with the skills to do it. "The list of players who have played for Crawshay's and the Lions is endless. But it has dipped off in more recent years as the game has become more professional.

"Whenever Crawshay's used to go anywhere, we had four, five, six internationals in the side. The clubs and coaches saw the benefits in sending their best to play for an invitational side. Our status within the game was big. "It was a privilege to play for the club. I will not pretend that we were on the same level as the Barbarians, history tells you that. "But as far as Welsh players go, to play for Crawshay's was a big honour. I know when I played for the first time it was fantastic."

Its list of former players may be mightily impressive, but Crawshay's has always prided itself on helping to nurture young talent - both on and off the pitch. To get asked to play was an honour, and the experience of playing free running rugby invaluable. But Brice believes the biggest benefit was off the pitch. "When I was a selector, I always looked for two things in a Crawshay's player. The first is skill, and the second was character ," he said. "When we play Oxford and Cambridge, I want to look at these youngsters who are available to us and see how they behave and handle themselves. "The ethos of Crawshays is running rugby, enjoyment and fun. When we take these young players from the four professional clubs, I make sure I keep an eye on them and watch how they behave and handle themselves.

"You can spot a good player on the pitch, but if he has not got it off it as well then he will struggle to make it." Traditional invitational sides have become a rarity in recent years, with the game's professional model making it tough for them to survive. Crawshay's Welsh no longer gets five established internationals on each tour, and must now settle for youngsters on the way up. But this can still be beneficial - as former Wales captain and 2005 British & Irish Lion Ryan Jones found out.

"Ryan Jones came on tour with us in 2004 when he was not playing for anyone. It was at a time when the Celtic Warriors had disbanded and Ryan needed somewhere to play," said Brice. "We were going to Slovenia and I spoke to Lyn Jones, who was coaching at the Ospreys, and asked if we could take Richard Hibbard on this tour to let him have experience and then report back to Lyn how Richard handled himself on and off the field. "In those days, how you handled yourself off the field was as important. And he casually mentioned to me that he was looking for a ball-carrying forward.

"So we played our first game in Slovenia, Ryan played and later on that evening Lyn called to find out how Richard had got on, and I told him I found the perfect player to help him in the back row. "So I put Ryan on the phone and not long after he signed a contract. And exactly a year later he was the star player in the Lions team in New Zealand. "That is an example of what we could do for players. We believe there is a huge opportunity for Crawshays and we have a lot to offer."

Some of the 88 Crawshays Welsh players to have represented British & Irish Lions:

1904 - Tommy Vile 1910 - Reggie Plummer 1924 - Harold Davies 1924 - Rowe Harding 1930 - Jack Bassett 1930 - Ivor Jones 1930 - Dai Parker 1930 - Jack Morley 1938 - Bill Clement 1938 - Viv Jenkins 1938 - Haydn Tanner 1938 - Bunner Travers 1950 - Cliff Davies 1950 - Don Hayward 1950 - Ken Jones 1950, 1959 - Malcolm Thomas 1950 - Rex Willis 1955 - Trevor Lloyd 1955 - Haydn Morris 1955 - Clem Thomas 1955 - Alun Thomas 1955 - Billy Williams 1959 - Terry Davies 1959 - Roddy Evans 1959, 1962 - Haydn Morgan 1959 - Ray Prosser 1962 - Glyn Davidge 1962 - Kingsley Jones 1962 - Tony O'Connor 1962, 1966 - Alun Pask 1962 - Keith Rowlands 1966 -- Allan Lewis 1966 - Terry Price 1966 - Gary Prothero 1966, 1968, 1971 - Delme Thomas 1966 - Dai Watkins 1966 - Stuart Watkins 1966 - Denzil Williams 1968 - John O'Shea 1968 - Billy Raybould 1968 - Maurice Richards 1971 - Geoff Evans 1971 - Chico Hopkins 1971 - Arthur Lewis 1971, 1974 - JPR Williams 1974, 1977 - Phil Bennett 1974 - Tommy David 1974, 1977 - Bobby Windsor 1977 - David Burcher 1977 - Terry Cobner 1977 - Gareth Evans 1977 - Charlie Faulkner 1977 - Steve Fenwick 1977 - Moss Keane 1977, 1980 - Allan Martin 1977, 1980, 1983 - Graham Price 1977, 1980 - Elgan Rees 1977, 1980, 1983 - Jeff Squire 1977 - Brynmor Williams 1977, 1980 - Clive Williams 1980 - Gareth Davies 1980 - Ray Gravell 1980, 1983 - Terry Holmes 1980 - Allan Phillips 1980 - David Richards 1980 - Gareth Williams 1983 - Rob Ackerman 1983- Eddie Butler 1983 - Gwyn Evans 1983, 1989 - Bob Norster 1986, 1989, 1993 - Robert Jones 1986 - Jeff Whitefoot 1989, 1993, 1997 - Ieaun Evans 1989 - Mike Griffiths 1989 - Mike Hall 1993, 1997, 2001 - Scott Gibbs 1997 - Allan Bateman 1997, 2001 - Rob Howley 1997 - Barry Williams 2001 - Colin Charvis 2001 - Darren Morris 2005 - Gareth Cooper 2005 -- Ryan Jones 2005 - Josh Lewsey 2005 - Michael Owen 2005, 2009, 2013 - Shane Williams 2009, 2013 - Adam Jones 2013 - Richard Hibbard 2013 - Dan Lydiate 2013 - Mike Phillips