MALCOLM THOMAS, who has died aged 82, was a key part of Welsh rugby throughout the 1950s, playing centre and occasionally wing alongside such great names as Bleddyn Williams, Jack Matthews, Ken Jones and Cliff Morgan.
Thomas was less dazzling than those great names, but his international career lasted longer than any of them bar Jones, while only Jones and Morgan won more than Thomas’s 27 caps. His strengths were his utter reliability and powerful, direct running
One sign of his remarkable durability as a player was his appearance on two British Lions tours to the southern hemisphere. The first, in 1950, involved travel by ship and six months away from work. Things had changed considerably for the second, nine years later, when they flew. The “babe” of the party on the first trip, when he finished top scorer with 96 points from 15 appearances, Thomas was the “father” of the party in 1959. Altogether, he played for the Lions on 32 occasions, scoring 152 points.
Malcolm Campbell Thomas was born in Machen, Monmouthshire on April 25 1929, the year the land speed record was broken. His forenames were bestowed in honour of the man behind the wheel of the successful attempt. Malcolm was educated at Bassaleg Grammar School and Caerleon Training College before enlisting as Instructor Lieutenant in the Royal Navy on a three year short term commission.
It was during this period that his rugby career really blossomed. Having first played for Newport in 1946, at the age of 16, he then captained Devonport Services and the Navy, winning his first cap for Wales against France in 1949.
France won in Paris, but better was to follow. In 1950, Wales won the Grand Slam for the first time since 1911 with Thomas scoring the winning try against Ireland in Belfast in the dying moments of the game. Thus began a three-year unbroken run of selection before a fractured leg confined him to the sidelines in the 1954/55 season.
He was as happy representing his club, Newport, or the Barbarians, as he was his country, which he captained twice in 1957. He played for Newport against South Africa in 1952, New Zealand in 1954, and Australia in 1957 and, at various times, also turned out for Cornwall and Monmouthshire.
He retired from the game after the 1959 tour and to work for Reed Corrugated Cases (then Thompson and Norris) in South Wales, whose marketing arm he had initially joined in 1952. He moved into management in 1964 and ran the company’s factory in Hartlepool and then at Shirley in Birmingham before moving south again. In 1973 he was appointed managing director of Reed Group Packaging Division.
In 1981 he joined Jefferson Smurfit Packaging with whom he stayed as a nonexecutive officer after his retirement. He also held non-executive positions with other companies while still employed by Smurfits. In 1993, he was appointed Group Chairman of Hornby Hobbies.
For a year or two, Thomas reported on rugby for The Sunday Telegraph but the game was not his sole sporting interest. While at Devonport he had played cricket for Cornwall, making 50 at the Oval against Surrey II; much later he bowled fast “ribticklers” off a short run for Gerrards Cross. In addition, he played golf to a single-figure handicap and was captain of Denham Golf Club. In that capacity he was able to field almost an entire team from the former rugby internationals who were fellow members. In the last year he greatly enjoyed watching Wales’s resurgence on the rugby field.
Malcolm Thomas married, in 1953, Gwen Mallinson. She predeceased him. They had a daughter and a son. Malcolm Thomas, born April 25 1929, died April 9 2012