Leeds Rhinos legend dies aged 92 as Wales Rugby Union lead emotional tributes

Welsh rugby legend Lewis Jones has passed away one month before his 93rd birthday. A dual-code international, historians have ranked him among “the most devastating” players Wales has produced, with Jones capable of playing at full-back, centre or wing.

He was only capped 12 times for his country across both codes as he headed to Leeds Rhinos for a world-record £6,000. That figure, paltry by today’s standards, was £1,000 more than the previous record.

Jones, who attended the same school as fellow Welsh internationals Rowe Harding, Haydn Tanner, Willie Davies and Onllwyn Brace, vehemently favoured attacking play. An extract from his 1958 autobiography sends a potent message to the over-commercialised world of sport today.

“Ever since I started playing rugby seriously at the Gowerton County School during the war years I have never deviated from the belief that the game is first and foremost an attacking game,” he wrote. “It is a belief that I put into practice from the very first moment of any match - club or international.”

He scored 144 tries and 1,244 goals in 385 appearances to amass 2,920 points for Leeds, a record that stood until Kevin Sinfield moved ahead in 2009. Jones retained a lifelong support for the Rhinos and regularly attended Headingley until his final days.

The Wales Rugby Union website led the tributes for Jones following his passing. So much was his relevance across both disciplines that an announcement on the RFL website also eulogised the former international.

“The RFL, on behalf of the entire Rugby League community, offers condolences to the family and friends of the late Lewis Jones, one of our game’s all-time greats, who has died at the age of 92,” a statement read.

“Jones will also be remembered in Rugby League as a Leeds legend between the years of 1952-64, where he made 385 appearances for the side, kicking 1,244 goals and producing a total of 2,920 points.

“He became the first ever Leeds player to score over 1,000 goals for the West Yorkshire club. He was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 2013, the sport’s most illustrious recognition of on-field excellence, before being one of the first players inducted into the Leeds Rugby Hall of Fame in 2017. Lewis is also an inductee into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame Roll of Honour.”