Long-lost hero Young tracked down as spirit of '38 lives on

Published on Thursday 21 April 2011 19:37

SCOTTISH rugby's last link with the famous 1938 Triple Crown-winning side was believed to have been lost this week with the passing of Allan Roy, the former Waterloo and Scotland forward, but The Scotsman has discovered that not to be the case.

The Scottish Rugby Union, who keep the records of all former internationalists and invite them regularly to reunions, had lost all contact with Dr William Brewitt 'Bill' Young who left with his wife to become a missionary in Kenya. After attempts to contact him in later years failed, it was believed that he had passed away while in Africa.

In the statement released to announce Roy's death, the SRU said: "Records suggest that Roy was the last survivor of Scotland's 1938 Triple Crown clinching victory over England at Twickenham." However, after reporting the death of Roy this week, a fellow former missionary friend of Dr Young contacted us to confirm that he was very much alive and well, having left Kenya after the death of his wife and returned to work as a GP in the south of England.

His friend, David Thomson, told us: "I struck up a great friendship with Bill and he remains alive and well in the south of England.

"He married again, to a wonderful lady called Flora, who comes from Ayrshire originally, and though he is now in a residential home in Kent they are both very much fit and well."

WB Young, a big back row born in Ardrossan, made a winning debut against Wales at St Helens in 1937 and made another eight consecutive appearances, forming part of the back row that defeated England in the 1938 Triple Crown. He still has a picture of himself shaking hands with King George VI before the match at Twickenham.

He is one of only five players to have played either side of the Second World War, turning out again for Scotland against England in his last game and scoring the winning try - his only touchdown in Test rugby - in a 6-3 triumph at Murrayfield in 1948. The others were John Innes, Copey Murdoch, Ralph Sampson and Ian Henderson.

It seems it was at this point that Young left the UK for Africa where he went on to represent East Africa at rugby, winning three caps for them in 1949 and 1950, which puts him into a group of just two, alongside Ireland's Maurice Daly, capped by a major rugby-playing nation and East Africa.

Young celebrates his 95th birthday on 7 May. He now takes over from Roy, who was a teammate and died at the age of 99, as Scotland's oldest living internationalist.

The SRU were surprised but very pleased to hear of another member of the 1938 team. A spokesman said: "We are delighted to learn that there is indeed a survivor from not only the 1938 team but going back to 1937.If his health permits, we would be delighted to welcome Dr Young to Murrayfield in the coming months and he will, of course, receive an invitation to our pre World Cup matches with Italy and Ireland in August."