Courtney is leader of the golden oldies

LEWIS Jones, still sprightly enough to have been a regular at Leeds Rhinos matches until you-knowwhat put Headingley out of bounds, has been pronounced in some quarters as the oldest living Union Lion.

Despite reaching 89 a fortnight ago, he is not even in the top three. Another Welshman, Courtney Meredith, holds the distinction and has done so since the passing of former Scotland, Leicester and Bristol scrum-half Gus Black two years ago at 92.

Meredith, the sole survivor of the last Wales team to beat New Zealand, almost 70 years ago, is in his 94th year. Mick Lane, whose nephew Michael Kiernan became a Test Lion in New Zealand more than 30 years later, is 93, a mere ten days younger than the old Neath prop.

Lane, then a student in Cork, played on the left wing in Tests against the All Blacks and Wallabies in 1950, a full five years before Meredith made his mark during the famous drawn series against the Springboks.

Two of the very few left from that tour occupy the next two positions in the Grand Old Order – Cardiff wing Haydn Morris (91) from Mountain Ash followed by one of Newport’s greatest players, Bryn Meredith from Abersychan near Pontypool.

An automatic choice for all four Tests in 1955 as the central figure in an allWelsh front row alongside his namesake Courtney and the late Walter Williams, Meredith played in all four when the Lions returned to South Africa seven years later.

Yet during the New Zealand series in between those tours, he was nowhere to be seen and thereby hangs a tale. Many believed Meredith’s stature demanded his appointment as captain. The selectors chose Ronnie Dawson, Meredith’s opposite number which meant the Welshman sat out all four Tests.

And while on the subject of anno domini, my apologies to Peter Larter for ageing him prematurely last week in highlighting the somewhat mysterious end to his England career. The former Saints lock is 75, not 76 as stated.