A superb blindside flanker, he joined Newport from St Julian’s HSOB in 1956 and went on to play 236 times in Black & Amber over eight seasons before heading to Abertillery to briefly play in another all-international back-row combination with Haydn Morgan and Alun Pask.
Born in Newport on November 8, 1934, Brian won three caps for Wales Schools U15 in 1950 from St Julian’s High School. He did National Service in the Royal Artillery and was a steelworker before going on the road as a sales rep.
He played in the victorious Newport side against the touring Australians in 1957 and won the first of his four caps against England in a 14-6 defeat at Twickenham.
He had been forced to wait for his chance to play on the international stage having had the first of six Welsh trial matches in 1957.
In his Welsh debut he joined Morgan and John Faull in the back-row and was the only survivor for the next game against Scotland in Cardiff three weeks later.
For that game the the captaincy was handed to Brian’s Newport club mate and hooker Bryn Meredith while Davidge and Whitson we recalled to join him in the back-row.
Another Newport player, full-back Norman Morgan, made his debut.
A Dewi Bebb try and five points from Morgan’s boot earned Wales a 8-0 victory and sent the team to Ireland on a high for round three of the Five Nations Championship. Brian scored a try in a fourth successive win over the Irish in a game that was as tight as the 10-9 scoreline suggested.
The Irish were the dominant force in the match, but Morgan’s touchline conversion of skipper for the day Onllwyn Brace’s try 10 minutes from time won the day for Wales. That made it two wins in a row for the Newport back-row trio, but there was to be no hat-trick.
Whitson was replaced by Leleu for the final fixture against the French in Cardiff. The visitors, champions from the previous season for the first time, arrived having made seven changes from the team that had drawn with England and went on to register their highest number of tries against Wales with four.
While France went on to beat Ireland and share the title with England, Wales finished third and Brian found his international career coming to an abrupt end. He played in the 3-0 defeat to the 1960 South African tourists for Newport, but missed the 1963 victory over the All Blacks through injury.
His final appearance for Newport was crowned with a try in a win over Wasps on October 26, 1963.
In 2015 he entered the Newport RFC ‘Hall of Fame’ and was an active member of the Newport Former Players Association throughout his life.
The Welsh Rugby Union sends its sincerest condolences to Brian’s wife, Sonia, his family and friends.
