{{Short description|Wales international rugby union player}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use British English|date=October 2011}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Billy Trew | image = Billy Trew 1905.jpg | caption = Trew in his Wales jersey | birth_name = William James Trew | birth_date = {{birth date|1879|3|12|df=y}} | birth_place = Swansea, Wales | death_date = {{Death date and age|1926|8|20|1879|3|12|df=yes}} | death_place = Swansea, Wales | height = 173 cm | weight = 67.5 kg | position = Centre | amatyears1 = | amatyears2 = 1905 | amatteam1 = Swansea RFC | amatteam2 = Glamorgan County RFC | ru_amclubcaps = | ru_amclubpoints = | ru_amupdate = | repteam1 = Wales<ref name="Welshstats">{{cite web| url=http://www.swansearfc.co.uk/history_browser_view.php?image_id=449 |title=Swansea RFC: Player profiles |publisher=newportgwentdragons.com|year=2008}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> | repyears1 = 1900-1913 | repcaps1 = 29 | reppoints1 = 39 | ru_ntupdate = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | ru_coachupdate = }}
'''William James Trew''', better known as '''Billy Trew''' (12 March 1879 – 20 August 1926) was a Welsh international centre, outside half and wing who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Football Club. He won 29 caps for Wales and is seen as one of the key players of the first Golden Age of Welsh rugby union<ref name="Davies886">Davies (2008), pg 886.</ref>
== Early years ==
Billy Trew was born William James Trew on 12 March 1879.<ref>[https://www.wru.wales/player/?PlayGuid=WT804348 WRU player profiles]</ref> Much like legendary Welsh rugby captain Arthur Gould before him, Billy Trew was part of a sporting family. His two brothers, Harry and Bert both played for Swansea RFC.
== Rugby career ==
===Club history=== Trew's first match for Swansea was against Penarth on 8 October 1897 scoring a drop goal in the match,<ref name="Smith134">Smith (1980), pg 134.</ref> and very soon he was a permanent fixture in various positions behind the club's backs. He was made captain of Swansea for the 1906/07 season, a position he held for the next four season. After a year break when Dicky Owen took over the role,<ref name="Smith135">Smith (1980), pg 135.</ref> he took up the captaincy again for the 1912/13 season. He played for Swansea against the All Blacks in 1905 and captained the team in wins against the touring Australia (1908) and South Africa (1912) national sides.
===International career===
By 1900 Welsh fans began wondering how Trew, a player who had outscored all other club players with 33 tries during the 1898/99 season and 31 tries in the 1899/1900 season, had not been chosen to represent Wales.<ref name="Smith134"/> The Welsh Rugby Union finally gave Trew his international debut at the age of twenty in January 1900. His first cap was at left-wing in a win against England a game in which he scored a try.<ref>''Prince Gwyn, Gwyn Nicholls and the First Golden Era of Welsh Rugby'', David Parry-Jones (1999) pg70. {{ISBN|1-85411-262-7}}</ref> He would play for Wales a further 28 times, scoring 11 tries, one conversion and one drop goal. His final match for Wales was an 11–8 win over France in 1913.
===International matches played=== '''Wales'''<ref name="Smith472">Smith (1980), pg 472.</ref> *{{ru|AUS}} 1908 *{{ru|ENG}} 1900, 1901, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 *{{ru|FRA}} 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1913 *{{ru|IRE}} 1900, 1908, 1909, 1911 *{{ru|SCO}} 1900, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913
===Captain of Wales=== Trew captained Wales fourteen times in 1889 and 1890. During his captaincy the national team only lost four matches and saw Wales collecting the Triple Crown on three occasions.
==Later life and death== Trew's son, Billy Trew Jr, followed his father and played for Swansea RFC. Trew Jr also captained Swansea during the 1929/30 season before moving to England to play for Swinton.
Billy Trew died on 20 August 1926, and was buried six days later at Danygraig Cemetery in Swansea. Many local people lined the streets to pay their last respects.
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Smith |first=David |author2=Williams, Gareth |title=Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union |year=1980 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=0-7083-0766-3 }} * {{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author2=Jenkins, Nigel |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-sports|ruc}} {{succession box|title=Swansea RFC captain|before=Frank Gordon|after=Dicky Owen|years=1906-1911}} {{succession box|title=Swansea RFC captain|before=Dicky Owen|after=David John Thomas|years=1912-1913}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trew, Billy}} Category:1879 births Category:1926 deaths Category:20th-century Welsh sportsmen Category:Welsh rugby union players Category:Wales international rugby union players Category:Rugby union centres Category:Rugby union players from Swansea Category:Wales rugby union captains Category:Swansea RFC players Category:Glamorgan County RFC players