Ex-Cardiff captain and Wales centre Meirion Roberts passes

Roberts played in his first Welsh trial while he was playing for Cardiff High School Old Boys in December 1957 ahead of moving to Cardiff the following season. In the 1957-58 season with CHSOB he scored 19 tries, helped them to reach the Silver Ball final, extend their home record to 60 matches, win the Old Penarthians Sevens and win 33 of their 37 matches.

He also helped Glamorgan win the Welsh Counties Cup in April 1958 when they beat Pembrokeshire 11-5 at Stradey Park.

Born in Abergwyngregyn, the tiny north Wales village in the shadow of the waterfall below the Carneddau Mountains, in September 1934, he moved with his family to south Wales at an early age and went to Cardiff High School.

He played for Wales Secondary Schools against France in a 14-8 win over France in 1952, replacing his schoolmate Alan Barter in the wake of the win over Yorkshire Schools. He played again in 1953, scoring a vital try in the 8-0 win over England at the Arms Park in front of a crowd of 30,000 and also played in an 8-3 win over England at Welford Road in 1954.

He scored 56 tries in 226 appearances over eight seasons at the Arms Park and was Cardiff club captain in the 1964-65 campaign, when he featured in 41 of his side’s 47 games. He played for Cardiff against South Africa in 1960 and New Zealand in 1963.

The former Cardiff RFC secretary, and author of the club’s centenary history, Danny Davies, described Roberts as “an unselfish player, he created many breaks, half breaks and scoring chances and tackled strongly. He was somewhat in the mould of Brian Turnbull of the ‘twenties’”.

He won his first cap against the Springboks in the 1960-61 season in a game that the tourists won 3-0 in terrible conditions. The next day the River Taff burst its banks and the Arms Park was completely flooded.

The Boks had beaten Cardiff 13-0, but Roberts got his revenge when he was picked for the one and only time by the Barbarians in the final fixture of the tour. On that occasion the invitation side won 6-0 to inflict the only defeat on Avril Malan’s tourists.

His other caps for Wales came in:
– 1961: wins over England (6-3) and Ireland (9-0) at home and losses in Scotland (3-0) and France (8-6)
– 1962: an 8-3 loss in Cardiff to Scotland and a 3-0 home win over France
– 1963: a 14-6 defeat to Ireland in Cardiff

In his eight caps he played with no fewer than seven different centres. He made his debut alongside Denis Evans against the Springboks, joined Cardiff clubmate Cyril Davies in the win over England in Cardiff, then joined Newport’s Gordon Britton, Aberavon’s David Thomas, Swansea’s Haydn Mainwaring, Llanelli’s Ken Jones (twice in 1962) and finally Bridgend’s Ron Jones.

Having been brought up in Heathfield Road by his parents, his father Huw was a printer, he lived with his wife Margaret, who he married in 1958, for many years near Roath Park Lake. He worked for much of his life as a medical representative.

Hugh Meirion Roberts: Cap No 658 (8 caps). B. 11 September 1934 in Abergwyngregyn; D. 6 January 2025 in Cardiff

WALES’ OLDEST LIVING INTERNATIONALS