‘Receiving President’s Cap was proud moment for Dad’
Welsh and Cardiff rugby is mourning the death of its oldest servant at the age of 97. Will Hayward reports
FORMER Cardiff wing Graham Hale died on Monday at the age of 97 years and 11 months. He was born in Cardiff in February 1920 and played his early rugby with Cardiff High School, before making his debut for Cardiff RFC in 1938-39 just before the Second World War.
The team had been invited to play in the Middlesex Sevens on April 22, 1939 and skipper Wilf Wooller took seven other players with him to Twickenham.
Dispute making the trip only the captain had ever actually played a seven-a-side match before. Observers would never have know about their lack of experience however as the team went on to win the tournament.
Speaking about the trip Mr Hale said: “We won our semi-final and we sat in the grandstand to watch London Scottish win the second semi. Wilf sat next to me and said, ‘We must stop this blighter Logie BruceLockhart running and we can win the final.’ And so we did, winning by 11-6.
“We hurriedly raced to Paddington to get on the train to Cardiff, but there was no Cup and no Wilf. Then, as the train started we saw Wilf hugging the cup and loping down the platform to jump into our carriage.
“We got to Cardiff and went straight to the clubhouse, which was shut. Nobody had expected us to win, but very soon Wilf had the club open and we were able to toast our success – never again achieved by a club from South Wales. The Cup was at that time called The Kinross-Arber Trophy.”
He played an integral role with a try in the final and a drop goal in an earlier round (then worth four points).
During the war he joined the Welsh Guards but was taken prisoner at Benghazi in North Africa. They were handed over to the Italians who took them to southern Italy.
The soldiers did not receive the best treatment and, suffering from ill health, Hale was released to Britain.
Demonstrating the resilience and strength that made him such a great player Hale came back to play for Cardiff and in March 1945 scored two tries in Cardiff’s 22-11 win over a New Zealand Services side.
According to the WRU he forced his way into the Services International for Wales side and played on the left wing against France at Swansea on December 22, 1945 when Wales won 8-0.
He also played against in the 2nd NZEF (‘Kiwis’) tour at Cardiff Arms Park at the Arms Park in 1946 when the New Zealanders won by 11-3.
Technically he did not win caps for these appearances but in 2013 the Welsh Rugby Union awarded Graham a President’s Cap in recognition of his appearance on the wing for Wales against the New Zealand “Kiwis” in 1946.
He then played until the end of the 1946-47 season, but then retired, having lost his best years to war.
He lived in the Lisvane area of Cardiff until recent years and died at the Ty Coch Nursing Home in Llanishen. His sons Jonathan and Richard and daughter Elizabeth were at his side when he died.
He had been the last survivor of the 30 players of Wales-Kiwis and the oldest living Cardiff player
According to son Jonathan, receiving the President’s Cap in 2013 was an incredibly proud moment for his father.
He said: “In all Dad made 59 appearances for Cardiff in the 1938/39, 1945/46 and 1946/47 seasons.
“Had it not been for the war years he would no doubt have played many more.
“He played in the centre in the 1938/39 season at the age of 18 alongside Wilf Wooller.
“After the war he played on the wing outside Bleddyn Williams and Dr Jack Matthews. He scored 33 tries in all.
“In 1939 he was one of the Cardiff seven which won the Middlesex Sevens at the first attempt, also becoming the first invitation side to do so.
“Dad recalled that only Wilf Wooller had ever played sevens before and they had two cursory training sessions with him before going to Twickenham!
“Dad played in three “Victory” Internationals after the War – against France at Swansea in December 1945, against New Zealand at the Arms Park in January 1946 and against England also in January 1946 at the Arms Park.
“Caps were not awarded by the WRU for theses games (although they were by the French) and Dad even had to return his shirt after the games!
“This great sporting injustice was corrected in 2013 when Dad along with Billy Darch and others (posthumously) received their President’s Cap from the WRU in recognition of their appearance against France.
“That was a very proud moment for Dad.”