In a country where the oval-ball game can feel like a religion, being named Wales rugby captain is a massive honour. Many greats of the game – including Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett and Eddie Butler – have skippered the national side, and know what it’s like to lead the team in front of an expectant Cardiff crowd.

This guide lists the most significant men’s captains of Wales rugby in the professional era, from ’90s stalwart Ieuan Evans through to the present day. While most of the stars of the Warren Gatland era wore the armband at one time or another, we’ve (mostly) opted to stick with players who skippered the side on 10 occasions or more.

We’ve also provided the dates of their main stints as captain, rather than accounting for odd games here and there.

The Welsh rugby captains below have led the nation through good times and bad, lifting Six Nations Championships and Wooden Spoons as they’ve carried the expectations of a nation on their shoulders. With or without the armband, they’ve tended to be very decent players, too.

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Wales rugby captains through the years

The new generation (2023-present)

The bad thing about so-called golden generations is that there can be an experience gap when your star players eventually hang up their boots. Gethin Jenkins, Dan Biggar, Justin Tipuric, Ken Owens and Jonathan Davies all wore the armband towards the end of their Wales careers, but now they’ve left the international stage it’s time for a new generation to pick up the mantle.

Since returning in 2022, head coach Warren Gatland hasn’t made a definitive selection. Instead, Jac Morgan, Dewi Lake and Dafydd Jenkins (all 25 or under) were all given a chance to stake their claims across the World Cup, Six Nations and summer tour to Australia. With Jenkins out injured and Morgan returning to the side after an injury lay-off of his own, Lake has the armband for the upcoming autumn internationals. Check out our guides to Wales rugby fixtures in 2024/25 and the Wales squad for the Autumn Nations series.

Alun Wyn Jones (2017-2021)

Older generations still wax lyrical about Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Phil Bennett, JPR Williams and the other Welsh legends of the ’70s, of course. But for anyone too young to remember those glory days, Alun Wyn Jones is Wales’ undisputed GOAT. It’s not just that he picked up more international caps than anyone else in rugby history, won three Grand Slams, and played in 12 British & Irish Lions tests (a record in the professional era).

Even before he took over from as captain of Wales rugby, Jones was the side’s de facto leader, the beating heart of the team whether he was belting out the national anthem or driving the pack forward. Welsh rugby may never see his like again.

Sam Warburton (2011-2016)

It was a massive call when Warren Gatland dropped Martyn Williams for the 2011 World Cup, leaving the talismanic openside at home with 99 caps to his name. It was possibly  an even bigger deal, however, when the head coach named Williams’ 22-year-old successor in the number seven shirt as the Welsh captain.

Read more: All the upcoming Wales rugby fixtures

It was one of the best decisions Gatland ever made, as Sam Warburton quickly proved himself to be one of the game’s great skippers, for both Wales and the Lions. As well as leading by example on the field, his measured on-field demeanour helped keep his teams on the right side of officials – his calm response to a potential penalty in the Lions’ 2017 test decider against New Zealand arguably saved the series.

Ryan Jones (2008-2010)

Once a promising academy goalkeeper at Bristol City FC, Ryan Jones was a relative latecomer to rugby, not picking up the oval ball in earnest until he was 17. It’s safe to say, however, that the back-rower was a natural, captaining his university team before embarking on a glorious professional career. Within a year of his international debut in 2004, he’d won a Grand Slam with Wales and emerged as one of the stars of a Lions tour to New Zealand.

Another Grand Slam followed after Warren Gatland named Jones as captain of Wales rugby for the 2008 Six Nations, and he wore the armband on 33 occasions in total – a national record until he was overtaken by Warburton.

Sadly, Jones announced in 2022 that he’s one of numerous ex-players suffering from early onset dementia.

Gareth Thomas (2005-2007)

Big, fast and prolific, Gareth “Alfie” Thomas was Wales’ answer to Jonah Lomu when he burst onto the international scene in 1995. His 40 tries for his country (he also won a century of caps) place him at third on Wales’ all-time list. 

Later on his career he became one of the national side’s leaders, with head coach Mike Ruddock awarding him the captaincy full-time for the 2005 Six Nations. Although fly-half Stephen Jones subsequently had a brief run as skipper, Thomas was back for the 2007 World Cup, and also took over the armband for the 2005 Lions after Brian O’Driscoll was ruled out by that spear tackle.

Thomas’s profile has only risen after his retirement from the game. In 2009 he became one of the highest profile professional sportsmen to come out as gay, and has since worked to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ rights, mental health issues and – having revealed he is HIV positive – HIV. He was awarded a CBE for services to sport and health. 

Colin Charvis (2002-04)

A strong back row was something Wales fans took for granted during the first Warren Gatland era, with the head coach able to take his pick from a conveyor-belt of quality loose forwards. Along with Scott Quinnell, Colin Charvis (also a British & Irish Lion)  was the standout player in earlier, leaner times, a consistent and reliable performer over more than a decade in the Welsh pack. His return of 22 tries in 94 caps remains a record for a Welsh forward.

Even so, Charvis’s at-times uncomfortable relationship with the media meant it was a big surprise when future World Cup-winning head coach Steve Hansen named the flanker as Wales captain for the 2002 tour of South Africa. Charvis kept the role until the end of 2004, and was still part of the side when Wales lost to Fiji at the 2007 World Cup. 

David Young (2000-2001)

Like fellow former captain of Wales rugby Gareth Thomas, David “Dai” Young also represented Wales in rugby league. However, there was much more to his union playing career than that handy piece of pub trivia. Over the course of two spells at Cardiff the tighthead won over 50 caps for Wales, skippering the side on 12 occasions, and travelling on three British & Irish Lions tours spread across three decades – an achievement since matched by the great Alun Wyn Jones.

Nowadays, Young is just as famous for his success as a director of rugby/head coach, particularly for his successful spell at Wasps throughout the 2010s.

Rob Howley (1998-1999)

Rob Howley didn’t make his international debut until his mid-20s but, once he’d pulled on that famous red jersey, he wasted little time establishing himself as one of the world’s best nines. In the distinctly mid-table Welsh side of the late ’90s, the skilful, elegant scrum-half was the team’s star attraction, and he was awarded the captaincy for the 1998 Five Nations after flanker Gwyn Jones was forced to retire from injury. 

Related: Reviewing Wales legend Dan Biggar’s new book

He’s since gone on to a successful coaching career, and even deputised for Warren Gatland when the Welsh boss was away on Lions duty. Along with fellow scrum-half Clive Rowlands, Howley is one of the only people to have both skippered and managed the national side.

Jonathan Humphreys (1995-1997)

Hooker Jonathan Humphreys’ international debut was the ultimate baptism of fire, as Wales were thrashed 34-9 by the Jonah Lomu-powered 1995 All Blacks – arguably the greatest World Cup runners-up of all time. The experience didn’t put him off, however, and the Cardiff forward was subsequently appointed as team captain, a role he fulfilled on 19 occasions.

As well as being part of the squad for a home World Cup in 1999, Humphreys went on to play for Bath, and is currently an assistant coach for Wales with responsibility for the forwards.

Ieuan Evans (1991-1995)

Ieuan Evans’ 28-game tenure as captain of Wales rugby coincided with a forgettable era for the national team, when they were more likely to be found competing for Wooden Spoons than Grand Slams. Despite the side’s struggles on the pitch, however, Evans remained a prolific try scorer from the wing, whose 33 tries in 72 matches places him at fourth in his country’s all-time list.

He also led Wales to an unexpected Five Nations Championship in 1994, and was a test starter on three consecutive British & Irish Lions tours, finishing as top scorer on the 1993 trip to New Zealand. One of Wales’ all-time greats.

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