[4] Payne was born in Llangyfelach and at the age of 14 had left school to join his father in the coal industry, tending the pit ponies.
but switched sports to rugby union playing for both Mynyddbach and Morriston before joining first class side Swansea in 1931.
Later in 1935, Payne was selected to face the same touring New Zealand team for Wales along with teammates Don Tarr, Haydn Tanner and Claude Davey.
This was Payne's one and only cap for his country, but it was a memorable game for Wales as they won 13–12, with fourteen men for the last ten minutes after Tarr was stretchered off with a broken neck.
His rugby career was finally halted after he broke his ankle while playing for Swansea Veterans RFC,[6] in a match in the Netherlands in 1992.