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's David Ferguson 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."
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