Courtenay Meredith dead at 97: Last surviving member of legendary Wales rugby side dies as tributes pour in
FORMER rugby star Courtenay Meredith has died at the age of 97.
The former Wales and British and Irish Lions ace made his name during the 1950s.
Meredith was the last survivor from the Welsh side that earned victory over New Zealand in 1953.
This achievement has not been matched since.
Meredith was a prop as was a part of the Lions team that toured South Africa in 1955.
He also played four Tests as part of an all-Welsh front row with Bryn Meredith and Billy Williams.
This was only repeated in 2009 as the Lions players with Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees and Adam Jones in the front row.
Tributes have poured in for Meredith on social media.
The Welsh Rugby Union said in a statement: "The WRU passes on sincere condolences to the friends and families of Courtenay Meredith following his death."
One fan posted: "Such a loss, rest in peace."
Most read in Rugby Union
A second commented: "That is so sad. My late father and uncle used to tell us about him.
"I seem to remember hard man, very hard in fact who feigned gentility, but underneath a gent of the first order.
"My father and uncle will be mobbing him at the Pearly Gates RIP."
Meredith was born in Hopkinstown in Wales in 1926 and was schooled at Neath Grammar.
He went to Cardiff University before doing National Service in the RAF.
His Wales debut came during the 12-0 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.
Two years ago he celebrated his 95th birthday and was hailed by then-WRU president Gerald Davies.
Davies said of Meredith: "He was one of the truly world class players in the Welsh pack in the Fifties.
"He was the cornerstone of the first all-Welsh front row for the British and Irish Lions in South Africa in 1955."