Keri Jones

William Keri Jones was born in Neath, Wales, on 13 January 1945. He attended Ystalyfera Grammar School, where Neath RFC later recalled him as a sprint champion. The British and Irish Lions list the school as Ysgol Gymraeg Ystalyfera Grammar School. Details of his parents and siblings have not been made public.

After Ystalyfera Grammar School, Jones studied at Cardiff College of Education (the forerunner of Cardiff Metropolitan University), where he qualified as a teacher according to the Barbarians. He also ran for the college athletics team and played on the wing for the college rugby side.

Speed defined Jones. After joining Cardiff RFC in 1965 he played only two games before taking a sabbatical from rugby to concentrate on sprinting. He ran the 220 yards for Wales at the Birmingham Games, a warm-up meeting for the Commonwealth Games, and was then selected for the Welsh team at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. He competed in the 100 yards, the 220 yards and the 4 x 110 yards relay, running the relay with Terry Davies, Lynn Davies and Ron Jones.

Jones made his first-class debut for Neath in September 1964 in a 6-0 win over Maesteg. He joined Cardiff RFC in 1965 and, after returning from athletics, played through the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons. The Barbarians credit him with 32 tries in 60 matches for Cardiff between 1965 and 1968.

He played twice for the Barbarians: on debut against Wasps at Sudbury on 19 April 1967 he scored two tries in a 36-8 win, and on 16 December 1967 he faced the touring New Zealand side at Twickenham, a 11-6 defeat.

For Wales he won five caps, all as a wing in the 1967-68 season. He debuted against New Zealand at Cardiff on 11 November 1967 (lost 13-6), then played every 1968 Five Nations match: England at Twickenham (11-11), Scotland at Cardiff (won 5-0, Jones scored the only try, converted by Keith Jarrett), Ireland in Dublin (lost 9-6) and France at Cardiff (lost 14-9, Jones scored a try). His two tries made him joint top try scorer of the championship.

Selected for the 1968 British Lions tour to South Africa, he did not play in the four Tests but appeared in six tour matches, including the 32-6 win over Rhodesia in Salisbury on 3 June 1968, and scored a try in the 24-6 win over South Western Districts at Mossel Bay on 25 May 1968.

Later in 1968 Jones signed professional forms with Wigan RLFC. He was one of six players from the 1968 Lions party who eventually switched codes, alongside Mike Coulman, Ken Goodall, Keith Jarrett, Maurice Richards and Bryan West. Statistics summarised on Wikipedia from rugby league records list 57 appearances and 38 tries for Wigan between 1968 and 1972.

At the 1970 Rugby League World Cup in England he won two Great Britain caps on the wing: a 6-0 win over France at Wheldon Road, Castleford on 28 October 1970 and a 27-17 win over New Zealand at Station Road, Swinton on 31 October 1970. Great Britain won both games.

Jones was married to Andrea, and they had two daughters, Lynne and Elen, according to Cardiff RFC. In retirement he was a long-standing member of the Cardiff RFC Former Players Association and attended a number of its breakfast gatherings. Where he lived in later life has not been made public.

No public statements by Jones about his personal, political or religious views have been found. He is remembered by his former clubs mainly for his loyalty to their former players' community.

Jones belongs to a rare group of Welsh sportsmen who represented their country in athletics and then won international honours in both rugby union and rugby league. He was joint top try scorer of the 1968 Five Nations, scored the only try in Wales's sole win of that season. His move to Wigan, together with five other members of the 1968 Lions party, illustrates the steady flow of Welsh talent to professional rugby league in that era.

5 caps for Wales (rugby union), 2 tries, 1967-68. Joint top try scorer, 1968 Five Nations Championship. British and Irish Lions tourist, South Africa 1968 (6 matches, 1 try). Barbarian FC (2 matches, 2 tries). 2 caps for Great Britain (rugby league), 1970 Rugby League World Cup. Wales athletics team, 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Kingston.

Newsreel footage survives of several matches Jones played in, including British Pathé films of England v Wales (1968), Wales v Scotland (1968) and Wales v France (1968), and archive film of Wales v New Zealand (1967), Barbarians v New Zealand (1967) and Rhodesia v British Lions (1968). Individual players are not always identified in this footage.

Keri Jones died on the morning of Thursday 29 October 2026, aged 81. Cardiff RFC announced his death, noting that he had experienced ill health earlier in the year, and sent condolences to his wife Andrea and daughters Lynne and Elen. Neath RFC also published a tribute, and the news was reported by WalesOnline and the Daily Star on 30 October 2026. The place and cause of death have not been made public, and funeral arrangements had not been announced at the time of writing.