The remarkable stories of rugby 'codebreakers' Billy Boston, Clive Sullivan and Gus Risman

They are three of the greatest rugby players Wales has ever produced.  

But to achieve that greatness they had to leave their homes in the docklands of Cardiff and build a new life for themselves in the North of England.  

In Wales they remained exiles and their stories were forgotten. Until now.

A special programme broadcast tonight on ITV Cymru Wales reveals the remarkable stories of three men who overcame poverty, prejudice and racism to become sporting heroes.

‘Exiles to Icons: The Codebreakers Come Home’ charts the phenomenal careers of Billy Boston, Clive Sullivan and Gus Risman. They switched ‘codes’ from Rugby Union to Rugby League and blazed a trail that helped to break down divisions in sport and society.

Billy Boston was the first black player to tour with Great Britain. Clive Sullivan was the first black player to captain Great Britain in any sport. And Gus Risman was still breaking rugby records at the age of 42.

Between them they scored more than 1,200 tries and dominated the world of Rugby League between the 1930s and the 1980s.

All three men came from immigrant families who had settled in Cardiff’s docklands. They excelled at rugby from a young age. But it was a different time and different rules applied.

“Until 1995 Rugby Union was a strictly amateur game,” explains rugby historian Tony Collins. “Anyone who played or was associated with Rugby League was banned for life from ever playing Rugby Union again.

“Players who went to the North of England to play Rugby League did so knowing that they could never go back and play Rugby Union. There were no second chances.

“It’s also clear that if you look at the record of Rugby Union in Wales, if you were a black player at the time you would struggle to reach the highest level of your sport because no black player ever played international Rugby Union for Wales until the 1980s. 

“Whereas in Rugby League, black Welsh players were playing international rugby from the mid 1930s.”

When Billy Boston, Clive Sullivan and Gus Risman began playing for clubs across the North of England, their talents quickly bloomed.

They became local legends and they’re still revered there today.  Boston has a statue in Wigan, Sullivan has a road named after him in Hull and Risman has two streets that bear his name in Salford and Workington.

But in the city of their birth the three men remained largely unknown and overlooked. Clive Sullivan’s widow, Rosalyn, believes her husband “never got the recognition he deserved when he lived.”

Billy Boston, who played Rugby Union for Neath and Pontypridd in his younger days, never got the chance to play Union either for Wales or his home city of Cardiff. He says it remains his one regret.

“I used to catch the bus from Cardiff’s ground to play for Neath. Cardiff didn’t want to know. And I wanted to play for Wales with all my heart. But it wasn’t to be”

On 19th July 2023, the Welsh capital finally commemorated its sporting sons. A bronze statue celebrating the three players was unveiled in Cardiff Bay, a drop kick away from the old dockland streets where they were born and bred. 

It was an emotional tribute to three sporting greats who were pioneers on and off the pitch.

You can see more on this story in Exile to Icons: The Codebreakers Come Home. Thursday 27 July at 8:30pm on ITV1 Wales and catch up online.

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