Educated Rhymney School - played for Abergavenny, Rhymney and British Police. His recollections of Rhymney RFC as recorded in "100 Years of Rhymney Rugby 1882-1982" by Philip Atkinson were that he "...was the first captain to be elected post-war. ...[He] was on demob. leave having left the R.A.F. on VJ Day. ...I joined Newport on 29th September."
Joined Newport in 1945 before injury ended his career in 10th game of season while captain in 1951-52. Played in winning Monmouthshire side of 1946 vs Kiwis (Won 15 v 0) with 7 other Newport players.
Won 10 Wales caps (1947 to 1951) incl 2 triple crowns. Scored 1try for Wales vs Ireland. Played for Wales vs France in 1945 Victory match at Swansea and vs England at Twickenham.
Toured Australia/NZ with British Lions in 1950 and played against Australia twice. Proudest moment was playing for Wales in France in 1947 at Stade Colombes on 27th March 1947. He replaced Ossie Williams who had transgressed WRU rule of playing prior to the international. Last played for Wales on 7th April 1951. Many believed that he was the finest wing forward of his day. Jack Davis wrote "he was not a brute-force spoiler but a student of tactics, as clever in attack as in defence. It was an education to watch him manoeuvre opposing half backs and centres into false positions, often without his having to lay a hostile hand on them".
Chairman on 3 occasions. Elected President in 1984-85. Life Member. Served Monmouthshire Police for 46 yrs rising to Detective Chief Superintendent. Brother played for Rhymney.
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In the match programme for Newport v New Zealand in October 1980 "R.T." reflected on his tour to Australasia with the 1950 British Lions;-
"Memories Of A 'Lions' Tour To New Zealand 1950"
"R. T. Evans (Newport, Wales and British Lions)"
"I had often heard the statement - 'Rugby is a Religion in Wales' - but little did the 13 Welsh members of the British Lions Team realise when they sailed from Liverpool on the 1st April 1950 for New Zealand and Australia, that they were in for an early rude awakening and that vital chapters were still awaiting to be written in our 'Religious Book'."
"The 1950 'Lions' were the last to travel by sea for a tour that was to be the longest post-war. One month on the ship, three months in New Zealand, a month in Australia and a month return voyage. Out via the Panama Canal and home through the Suez. A round-the-world trip at the expense of the New Zealand and Australian Rugby Unions."
"A day for the 'Official Welcome' at Wellington and then an overnight boat-trip to Nelson in the South Island where we remained a week to regain our 'land-legs' before commencing the New Zealand leg of 23 matches."
"From the moment of arrival we realised that 'Our Religion' was still in the embryo stage. A realisation to be firmly established when we played in a town of 12,000 population but with a 15,000 capacity crowd watching our match."
"Two comfortable wins and on to Dunedin to meet the formidable Province of Otago. Until then none of us had heard the term 'ruck' but we were soon to realise if we wanted to survive there was a lot of ground-work to be achieved. We were trounced 23 points to 9 and in an after-match discussion I learnt of a member of a previous touring side who, after suffering the same ignominy, and upon returning home, changed the name of his house to 'Otago' as a mark of deep respect for their forwards."
"It was here I found that we could never confidently take the field without the 'Iron Man', Dr. Jack Matthews. A very difficult person to play against but what a tremendous player to have on one's side. His crunching tackles made the opposing centres seriously think twice about trying to evade him a second time. One such player, All Black skipper, Ron Elvidge, took the full brunt in the Third Test but despite several stoppages to render him treatment, he remained on the field to score the winning try by literally leaping over the head of full-back Cleaver. After the game we found that he had played with a fractured sternum. Such was the grit, determination and dedication of an 'All Black'."
"Memories even after 30 years remain vivid and no member of our party will ever forget the touching tribute paid by 42,000 spectators at Auckland to that rugby genius, Jackie Kyle, as he left the field after the match against a Maori Fifteen - our last in New Zealand."
"As for myself, I have one claim to fame. I still carry a scar on my chin caused by the boot of that redoubtable full-back, Bob Scott."