Nathan Rocyn-Jones FRCS

Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons

Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...

 (17 July 1902 - 26 January 1984) 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...

 international 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...

 forward who played club rugby for Newport Rugby Football Club and represented Cambridge

Cambridge University R.U.F.C.

The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...

. He won only a single cap 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...

 but after retiring from playing rugby became 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...

.

Rugby career

Rocyn-Jones came from a long-line of medical practitioners and his father, Sir David Rocyn-Jones

David Rocyn-Jones

Sir David Thomas Rocyn-Jones CBE, K St J, DL, JP was a Welsh medical officer of health and servant of multiple professional bodies within Wales.-Professional career:...

 was Medical Officer for Health

Medical Officer for Health

The Medical Officer for Health is a title usually given to the head of the health department at a municipal level.In the United Kingdom, the municipal position was an elected head of the local board of health, however the term has also been used to refer to the Chief Medical Officer...

 for Monmouthshire. While studying medicine at Cambridge, Rocyn-Jones represented the University, but it was while at St Mary's Hospital, London, would gain his one and only cap for Wales, when he was selected to face Ireland as part of the 1925 Five Nations Championship

1925 Five Nations Championship

The 1925 Five Nations Championship was the eleventh series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the thirty-eighth series of the annual northern hemisphere rugby...

. The game took place at Ravenhill

Ravenhill Stadium

Ravenhill Stadium is located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is used by Ulster Rugby. It has a normal capacity of 12,300 and is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union.-History:The grounds were opened in the 1923/24 season...

, Belfast, and Wales were led by Llanelli's

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...

 Idris Jones

Idris Jones (rugby player)

Walter Idris Jones CBE was a Welsh international rugby union player. He captained the Wales national rugby union team on one occasion in 1925. Jones played his club rugby for Llanelli RFC.-References:...

. Wales were outclassed and lost 19-3.

Although Rocyn-Jones did not play for Wales again, he served the club later in his career, when, like his father before him, he was made President of the Welsh Rugby Union. His presidency lasted only a year, but his time coincided with the 1964-65 Triple Crown

Triple Crown (Rugby Union)

In rugby union, the Triple Crown is an honour contested annually by the four national teams of the British Isles who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship: England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. If any one team manages to win all their games against the other three they win the...

 winning team. During his presidency, Rocyn-Jones clashed with the Welsh selectors, which included past Welsh players like Cliff Jones

Cliff Jones (rugby player)

Clifford 'Cliff' William Jones OBE was a Welsh international rugby union fly-half who played club rugby for many teams but is most associated with Cardiff and Cambridge University...

, 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:...

 and Rees Stephens

Rees Stephens

Rees Stephens was a Welsh international number 8 who played club rugby for Neath. He won 32 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand...

, over the nature of the Welsh play. Rocyn-Jones believed that the game was "essentially played for enjoyment and that too much emphasis could be placed on technical and tactical skill" .