Editing Cardiff RFC (section)

====After the Second World War====
After the resumption of regular rugby, Cardiff beat Australia 11–3 on 21 November 1947, captained by scrum-half [[Haydn Tanner]]<ref name="cardiffrfc.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1176|title=Cardiff RFC Season Review 1947 - 1948 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908031913/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1176|archive-date=8 September 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and were also unofficial Welsh champions in 1947/48, when [[Bleddyn Williams]] set a club record of 41 tries in one season,<ref name="cardiffrfc.com"/> and 1948/49, when the Blue and Blacks went completely unbeaten against Welsh opposition, only Swansea and Newport succeeding in salvaging draws.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1177|title=Cardiff RFC Season Review 1948 - 1949 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314205532/http://cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1177|archive-date=14 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The club had a fantastic record against Newport during these years, going 15 games unbeaten against them between 1946 and 1950.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1947|title=Fixtures And Results 1946/1947 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415085845/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1947|archive-date=15 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1948|title=Fixtures And Results 1947/1948 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415080239/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1948|archive-date=15 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1949|title=Fixtures And Results 1948/1949 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415095554/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1949|archive-date=15 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1950|title=Fixtures And Results 1949/1950 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415093539/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Matches/FixturesAndResultsIn/1950|archive-date=15 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Cardiff players helped Wales win their first Grand Slam in nearly forty years in 1950, and later that year supplied five players to the Lions for the first time later that year. The five were fly-half [[Billy Cleaver]], prop [[Cliff Davies (rugby union)|Cliff Davies]], centre [[Jack Matthews (rugby union)|Jack Matthews]], scrum-half [[Rex Willis]] and Bleddyn Williams, the "Prince of Centres". Williams captained the Lions in the third and fourth Tests against New Zealand.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lionsrugby.com/history/legends/bleddyn_williams.php |title=Legends &#124; History &#124; British & Irish Lions &#124; Rugby &#124; Official Website : Bleddyn Williams |access-date=2014-07-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728082505/http://www.lionsrugby.com/history/legends/bleddyn_williams.php |archive-date=28 July 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Wales won another Grand Slam in 1952, with much the same side.

In 1952–53, Cardiff won the unofficial Welsh championship again, helped by the rise of prodigiously talented fly-half Cliff Morgan, but the best was still to come. On 21 November 1953, Cardiff faced New Zealand in front of a crowd of 56,000 at the Arms Park and, after a brilliant defensive effort following a 5–0 lead at half-time, hung on to win 8–3.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/56000-watch-cardiff-defeat-blacks-2017904|title=56,000 watch Cardiff defeat the All Blacks|last=WalesOnline|date=20 November 2012|website=walesonline.co.uk|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412090932/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/56000-watch-cardiff-defeat-blacks-2017904|archive-date=12 April 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Five Cardiff backs were selected in the Wales team captained by Bleddyn Williams that beat the All Blacks again less than a month later. These two results remain the last time either Cardiff or Wales have beaten New Zealand.

Cardiff repeated their unofficial championship victory two years later in 1955, and had three Lions in the 1955 touring side, notable for not including any of the five that toured in 1950. The three this time were fly-half Morgan, centre [[Gareth Griffiths (rugby union)|Gareth Griffiths]] and wing [[Haydn Morris]]. Morgan, in front of a then-world record crowd of 100,000, helped defeat the South Africans 23–22 with a brilliant try despite an injury to Reg Higgins reducing the Lions to 14 men (no replacements were allowed at this time). After the South Africans squared the series in the second Test, Morgan was made captain for the third Test and inspired the team with a combination a stirring team talk and a great kicking game to a 9–6 victory, ensuring the series could not be lost, after which he was dubbed "Morgan the Magnificent" by the South African press.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lionsrugby.com/history/legends/cliff_morgan.php |title=Legends &#124; History &#124; British & Irish Lions &#124; Rugby &#124; Official Website : Cliff Morgan |access-date=2014-01-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202230647/http://www.lionsrugby.com/history/legends/cliff_morgan.php |archive-date=2 February 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> After his Lions heroics Morgan was made captain of Wales, and helped them win the title (although not the Grand Slam) in 1956.

Australia played against and were defeated by Cardiff for the third time in 1957, 14–11 thanks to two great tries from [[Gordon Wells]], after which a reporter from the [[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|Sydney Daily Telegraph]] wrote "we fell to the world's best rugby union club", and another unofficial championship title was secured in 1957–58, but only second row Bill "Roddy" Evans was selected for the Lions in 1959, although he started four of the six Tests. A downturn in Welsh and Cardiff fortunes occurred around this time, although prop [[Kingsley Jones (rugby union, born 1935)|Kingsley Jones]] and second row [[Keith Rowlands]] from the club were still selected for the 1962 Lions tour, and Cardiff managed to come within a point of beating the All Blacks again in 1963, scoring the only try of the game. However, the slump began to end in 1964, when Wales shared the Five Nations title with Scotland, after which Wales won the Triple Crown and the title in 1965, followed by another championship in 1966, although the Grand Slam still eluded them. However, these successes helped Cardiff players centre [[Ken Jones (rugby union, born 1941)|Ken Jones]] and prop [[Howard Norris]] win places on the Lions tour to New Zealand. Later that year Cardiff beat Australia 14–8,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1195|title=Cardiff RFC Season Review 1966 - 1967 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717033717/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1195|archive-date=17 July 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> although Wales were not able to repeat the feat a month later, losing 14–11.

The 1968 Lions tour was a historic one, containing a record six Cardiff players, wings [[Keri Jones]] and [[Maurice Richards]], prop [[John O'Shea (rugby union)|John O'Shea]], (then) centre [[Gerald Davies]], fly-half [[Barry John]] and scrum-half [[Gareth Edwards (rugby union)|Gareth Edwards]]. While Jones and Richards would soon switch codes to play rugby league and O'Shea's tour would be marred somewhat by being the first Lion ever to be sent off for foul play, Davies, John and Edwards would go on to become legends, although their careers got off to inauspicious starts, the Lions losing three of the Tests again South Africa and only drawing the other one.

On the domestic front, they were denied silverware, as despite being top of the unofficial table for almost the whole season, the loss of their six Lions at the end of the season allowed Llanelli to overtake them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1196|title=Cardiff RFC Season Review 1967 - 1968 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716145040/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1196|archive-date=16 July 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Cardiff again finished second behind Newport the next year,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1197|title=Cardiff RFC Season Review 1968 - 1969 - Cardiff RFC|website=Cardiffrfc.com|access-date=9 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908030917/http://www.cardiffrfc.com/Page/Content/1197|archive-date=8 September 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> with Richards the only Lion to make more than 20 appearances. However, Wales won the Five Nations title and Triple Crown in 1969, only denied the Grand Slam by a draw in France, only to be whitewashed in three games against New Zealand and Australia in the summer.