His predecessors in the last 10 years include Mike Hall, Gwyn Jones, Rob Howley, David Young and Humphreys who led his country 17 times whilst with Cardiff.
The long line of Cardiff captains began in 1884 when forward Joe Simpson led Wales to victory over Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park. He was followed by Frank Hancock, the man attributed with the introduction of the four three-quarters system into rugby union. During the first ‘Golden Era’ of Welsh Rugby between 1901 and 1911 a host of Cardiff players captained Wales, including E Gwyn Nicholls, Rhys Gabe, Bert Winfield, Reggie Gibbs and Johnny Williams.
In the inter-war years Codger Johnson, Harry Bowcott, Wilfred Wooller and Cliff Jones continued the great tradition. More recently, Dr Jack Matthews, Cliff Morgan, Gerald Davies, Gareth Edwards, Terry Holmes, Robert Norster and Gareth Davies have joined the roll of honour.
Gwyn Nicholls captained Wales to the legendary defeat of New Zealand in 1905 and Bleddyn Williams repeated the feat in 1953; Rob Howley was at the helm for the only victory against South Africa in 1999.
Martyn Williams has been well-prepared for this latest honour in his outstanding career. He was in charge of Wales Under-21s in 1997 and two years later on tour in Argentina he skippered the Wales senior side in midweek matches against Tucuman and Argentina ‘A’. He also was captain when Wales played the USA in a non-cap match at the Millennium Stadium in August 1999.
Martyn took over as club captain at Cardiff this season and has been in outstanding form. Prior to the Six Nations campaign he played in 19 of the club’s 22 matches. His current career total for Cardiff is 80 appearances since his debut in November 1999.
CARDIFF’S CAPTAINS OF WALES
1 Joe Simpson (1) 2 Frank Hancock (1) 3 Frank Hill (4) 4 E Gwyn Nicholls (7) 5 Rhys Gabe (1) 6 Bert Winfield (1) 7 Reggie Gibbs (1) 8 Johnny Williams (1) 9 Clem Lewis (2) 10 Codger Johnson (1) 11 Arthur Cornish (2) 12 Bobby Delahay (1) 13 Bernard Turnbull (1) 14 Ossie Male (3) 15 Harry Bowcott (1) 16 Wilfred Wooller (4) 17 Cliff Jones (3) 18 Bill Tamplin (1) 19 Haydn Tanner (12) 20 Jack Matthews (1) 21 Bleddyn Williams (5) 22 Rex Willis (2) 23 Cliff Morgan (4) 24 Lloyd Williams (3) 25 Gareth Edwards (13) 26 Gerald Davies (1) 27 Gareth Davies (5) 28 Terry Holmes (5) 29 Robert Norster (1) 30 Mike Hall (3) 31 Jonathan Humphreys (17) 32 Gwyn Jones (5) 33 Robert Howley (22) 34 David Young (12) 35 Martyn Williams
