Cardiff Rugby Museum has mounted a special exhibition this summer to celebrate Cardiff’s British Lions. Our timing was poor, in that this was the first tour since 1993 not to feature a Cardiff player, though Tomos Williams made the cut just a year after graduating from our ranks and so we can lay a partial claim to representation!
Cardiff players have been selected for the Lions on sixty-two occasions, with forty-eight players sharing this total between them. No other club can boast such a record, though Leicester are Cardiff’s nearest rivals, with fifty-two selections via thirty-eight players. Though Cambridge University often claims that it has over sixty Lions, only around a third of these were selected while at the university. Another thirty-six Lions have played for Cardiff after having been capped from another club. Taulupe Faletau, a three-times Lion, is the latest to join this group. It’s a phenomenal achievement overall and one that we’re hugely proud of.
Gwyn Nicholls (Australia, 1899) and Percy Bush and Rhys Gabe (Australia and New Zealand, 1904) were the first tourists selected from the Club. The highest number to be chosen was for the South Africa tour of 1968, when six Cardiff men (Gerald Davies, Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Keri Jones, John O’Shea, and Maurice Richards) received the call. This would have been equalled in 2009 had a shoulder injury not ruled Tom Shanklin out of what would have been his second tour, though the five players selected that year matched those chosen in 1950.
Many Cardiff players have shone in Lions’ colours. In addition to Nicholls, Bush, and Gabe, these include Bleddyn Williams and Jack Matthews in 1950, Cliff Morgan in 1955, Gareth Edwards, Barry John, and John Bevan in 1971 (the first and, to date, only series win in New Zealand), and Edwards again in 1974 (on the ‘Invincibles’ tour of South Africa). Sam Warburton captained the Lions that won the series against Australia in 2013 and dramatically drew with New Zealand in 2017.
Sir Gareth Edwards tops the appearances chart for a Cardiff player with ten tests and thirty-nine matches in all. Gareth, Dai Young, and Martyn Williams have each toured on three occasions, while Terry Holmes, Jamie Roberts, Sam Warburton, and Leigh Halfpenny have been on two tours while at the club. Leigh Halfpenny was selected for a third tour in 2017 while with Toulon.
The new exhibition was formally opened on June 19th, the day before the 2025 Lions first game against Argentina in Dublin. A splendid affair hosted by Phil Steele, it kicked off with a panel discussion with four of our Lions – Sir Gareth, Terry Holmes, Bob Norster, and Alan Phillips. Sir Gareth then did the honours in terms of declaring the exhibition open.
The display features a fascinating mix of old and new. The earliest item is Gwyn Nicholl’s cap from the Anglo Australian tour of 1899 and the most recent being a signed shirt from the 2021 post-COVID tour to South Africa signed by Cardiff’s representatives Josh Adams and Josh Navidi. Many tours are covered in between, with other highlights including a blue Lions jersey belonging to Ivor Williams (the last time that the Lions played in blue before switching to the now more familiar red), Gareth Edwards shirt from the epic 1971 series against the All Blacks, and Gareth Davies velvet dinner jacket as worn by players and management on the 2017 tour. Many former Lions provided objects on loan as did the Grogg Shop who allowed us to borrow the fabulous Grogg of Sir Gareth handing off New Zealand outside half Wayne Burgess (and thus paving the way for a try by Barry John) during the crucial third test in 1971.
Other memorabilia on display include Lions jerseys belonging to Gareth Griffiths, Howard Norris, Stuart Lane, Bob Norster, Mike Hall, Jamie Roberts, and Sam Warburton. We also have Lions caps from Brynmor Williams, Terry Holmes, and Martyn Williams together with Leigh Halfpenny’s boots from the 2013 tour when he landed forty out of forty-five kicks on tour and, in the series decider in Sydney, broke the record for the most points scored by a Lion in single test (twenty-one) and most points in series (forty-nine).
The exhibition has seen a terrific footfall over the summer and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. It was open to visitors during the first two tests and has also seen visits from attendees at our Sports and Memory Cafe (run in conjunction with our Cardiff Rugby Community Foundation) and local Sporting Memories Groups. The Rugby Memorabilia Society will also be visiting in coming weeks.
A new exhibition will be put in place in early September and so your last chance to view the Lions exhibition will be at Summerfest on September 6th – catch it before it’s gone!
Cardiff players have been selected for the Lions on sixty-two occasions, with forty-eight players sharing this total between them. No other club can boast such a record, though Leicester are Cardiff’s nearest rivals, with fifty-two selections via thirty-eight players. Though Cambridge University often claims that it has over sixty Lions, only around a third of these were selected while at the university. Another thirty-six Lions have played for Cardiff after having been capped from another club. Taulupe Faletau, a three-times Lion, is the latest to join this group. It’s a phenomenal achievement overall and one that we’re hugely proud of.
Gwyn Nicholls (Australia, 1899) and Percy Bush and Rhys Gabe (Australia and New Zealand, 1904) were the first tourists selected from the Club. The highest number to be chosen was for the South Africa tour of 1968, when six Cardiff men (Gerald Davies, Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Keri Jones, John O’Shea, and Maurice Richards) received the call. This would have been equalled in 2009 had a shoulder injury not ruled Tom Shanklin out of what would have been his second tour, though the five players selected that year matched those chosen in 1950.
Many Cardiff players have shone in Lions’ colours. In addition to Nicholls, Bush, and Gabe, these include Bleddyn Williams and Jack Matthews in 1950, Cliff Morgan in 1955, Gareth Edwards, Barry John, and John Bevan in 1971 (the first and, to date, only series win in New Zealand), and Edwards again in 1974 (on the ‘Invincibles’ tour of South Africa). Sam Warburton captained the Lions that won the series against Australia in 2013 and dramatically drew with New Zealand in 2017.
Sir Gareth Edwards tops the appearances chart for a Cardiff player with ten tests and thirty-nine matches in all. Gareth, Dai Young, and Martyn Williams have each toured on three occasions, while Terry Holmes, Jamie Roberts, Sam Warburton, and Leigh Halfpenny have been on two tours while at the club. Leigh Halfpenny was selected for a third tour in 2017 while with Toulon.
The new exhibition was formally opened on June 19th, the day before the 2025 Lions first game against Argentina in Dublin. A splendid affair hosted by Phil Steele, it kicked off with a panel discussion with four of our Lions – Sir Gareth, Terry Holmes, Bob Norster, and Alan Phillips. Sir Gareth then did the honours in terms of declaring the exhibition open.
The display features a fascinating mix of old and new. The earliest item is Gwyn Nicholl’s cap from the Anglo Australian tour of 1899 and the most recent being a signed shirt from the 2021 post-COVID tour to South Africa signed by Cardiff’s representatives Josh Adams and Josh Navidi. Many tours are covered in between, with other highlights including a blue Lions jersey belonging to Ivor Williams (the last time that the Lions played in blue before switching to the now more familiar red), Gareth Edwards shirt from the epic 1971 series against the All Blacks, and Gareth Davies velvet dinner jacket as worn by players and management on the 2017 tour. Many former Lions provided objects on loan as did the Grogg Shop who allowed us to borrow the fabulous Grogg of Sir Gareth handing off New Zealand outside half Wayne Burgess (and thus paving the way for a try by Barry John) during the crucial third test in 1971.
Other memorabilia on display include Lions jerseys belonging to Gareth Griffiths, Howard Norris, Stuart Lane, Bob Norster, Mike Hall, Jamie Roberts, and Sam Warburton. We also have Lions caps from Brynmor Williams, Terry Holmes, and Martyn Williams together with Leigh Halfpenny’s boots from the 2013 tour when he landed forty out of forty-five kicks on tour and, in the series decider in Sydney, broke the record for the most points scored by a Lion in single test (twenty-one) and most points in series (forty-nine).
The exhibition has seen a terrific footfall over the summer and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. It was open to visitors during the first two tests and has also seen visits from attendees at our Sports and Memory Cafe (run in conjunction with our Cardiff Rugby Community Foundation) and local Sporting Memories Groups. The Rugby Memorabilia Society will also be visiting in coming weeks.
A new exhibition will be put in place in early September and so your last chance to view the Lions exhibition will be at Summerfest on September 6th – catch it before it’s gone!