Ivor Egwad Jones CBE was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 player who played as a back-row forward, mainly at flanker, for Llanelli

Llanelli RFC

Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent...

 and won 16 caps for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

, three of them as captain.

Jones was born in Loughor

Loughor

Loughor is a town in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community council called Llwchwr....

 and joined Loughor RFC

Loughor RFC

Loughor Rugby Football Club is a rugby union Club representing the town of Loughor, Swansea, South Wales. Loughor RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys. Rugby was first played in Loughor in 1882, with evidence of two distinct teams forming in the upper and...

 after leaving school, playing his first match for them at the age of 15. After playing a few games for Swansea

Swansea RFC

Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. Its home ground is St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea. The team is sometimes known as The Whites because of the primary colour of the team strip...

 he moved to Llanelli in 1922. He played for Llanelli until 1938, apart from a short period with Birmingham in 1924-25, and scored more than 1,200 points for the club. He captained Llanelli from 1925 to 1928, 1930 to 1932 and 1933 to 1936, and led them to the Welsh club title three times between 1927 and 1933.

He won his first cap for Wales in 1924 against England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 and made his last appearance as captain against Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 in 1930. He was selected for the British and Irish Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 on their tour to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 in 1930 and played in all five tests. Jones was generally considered to have been one of the outstanding players on that tour, but was never selected for Wales again.

After retiring as a player, Jones became chairman of the Welsh selectors, President of the Welsh Rugby Union

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

 and a Justice of the Peace.

Quotations

Harry Bowcott

Harry Bowcott

Harry Bowcott was a Welsh international rugby union centre who played club rugby for Cardiff and London Welsh and later became president of the Welsh Rugby Union.-Club career:...

, former Wales captain and fellow tourist on the 1930 British and Irish Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

tour to Australia New Zealand, speaking of the opening win in the series for the tourists:

It was a very cold day. There were snow showers before the game and a blizzard during it. We changed at the hotel and it was entirely due to Ivor Jones, the king of the tour, that we got off to a winning start. He broke clear at our ten-yard line and went all the way downfield so that there was only George Napia, the New Zealand full-back, left to stop him. He drew Napia and slipped the ball to Jack Morley for him to get over in the corner. We'd beaten this wonderful team called the All Blacks, much to their disgust. We were delighted.

Author Peter Jackson on Ivor Jones:

No Lion, though, made as great an impact on New Zealand as Ivor Jones, the Llanelli back-row forward. They called him 'The King', and a few survivors of the oldest generation scattered around both islands still do. Jones, who devoted a lifetime to the service of Welsh rugby in many guises, including chairman of selectors and president, was almost a one-man team.