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The London Welsh ‘third man’ in that great game against Gloucester is Geoff Evans

All Areas > Sport

Author: Roger Jackson, Posted: Monday, 7th January 2019, 10:00

Gloucester scrum-half Mickey Booth releases the ball in the game against London Welsh in March 1972 Gloucester scrum-half Mickey Booth releases the ball in the game against London Welsh in March 1972

Regular readers on this site will be familiar with this photograph which we used on Saturday 29th December.

It was taken at London Welsh close on 47 years ago on a day when Gloucester produced one of the great results in their history, beating a star-laden side 9-4.

It was an important game too – it was played on 4th March 1972 – because it was in the quarter-final of the inaugural National KO Cup and it’s a story that has a very happy ending for Gloucester fans as it was a competition that their club won that season, overcoming Moseley 17-6 in the final at Twickenham some seven weeks later.

The photo was sent to The Local Answer just before Christmas by Dave Booth, the son of Gloucester scrum-half legend Mickey Booth, who is the man with the ball in the picture.

The other three Gloucester players in the photo are Mike Potter, Nigel Jackson and John Haines.

Dave Booth, a familiar face around rugby in Gloucester both as a player and an administrator over the years, not surprisingly was not so sure about the London Welsh players saying they were ”the great Mervyn Davies, Derek Quinnell and the other I don’t know”.

The Local Answer asked readers to send an email if they knew who the ‘third man’ was and by common consent it was Geoff Evans.

Rugby fan Martin Davies wrote: “The unidentified London Welsh player is Geoff Evans. His parents were neighbours and as boys, my brother and I would marvel at the London Welsh players, including John Taylor, who would call in after the Boxing Day match against Llanelli.”

James Hurrell said quite simply: “I’m pretty sure it’s Geoff Evans.”

And while the London Welsh player in the headband is unmistakeably Mervyn Davies, his team-mate on the left wasn’t Derek Quinnell.

Nigel Sime, who was at London Welsh from 1969 to 1981, told us: “From left to right, Mike Roberts, Mervyn Davies and Geoff Evans. Wales and British Lions of course!”

And Owen Evans said: My great-grandfather, grandfather and father all played for London Welsh, and my father was at the club during the late 60s and early 70s. The three players from from left to right are Mike Roberts, Mervyn Davies and Geoff Evans. I don’t think Derek Quinnell ever played for London Welsh."

 That was backed up by Gareth Davies who said: “The London Welsh players in the photo are, from left to right, Mike Roberts, Mervyn Davies and Geoff Evans (all also Wales and the Lions.) Derek Quinnell never played for London Welsh.”


While Lydney Rugby Club stalwart Colin Henderson added: “I think you will find the London Welsh players are Geoff Evans and Mike Roberts. Rely on me!”

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