Tagged: rugby

Which Lions tourist sprang a convict from captivity on a particularly wild night out?

What happened when the World Cup-winner played on after tearing his scrotum?

Why did the 6’7” lock receive praise in the House of Commons from the Prime Minister?

What gave one World Cup winger the nickname ‘the Chiropractor’?

Who had his career ended after assaulting a fan in the stands during a game?

Answers to these questions and much more is to be found in the profiles of the 20 players featured in  Hard Men of Rugby  (Y Lolfa). These tough and uncompromising sportsmen span the globe and the period from pre-WWI to the present day. They were totally committed to victory, and irrespective of size, situation or opposition, never took a backwards step. Most of the them operating before citing commissioners, slow-motion replays and trial by social media, some of their actions are almost hard to believe. And largely free from the confines of the commitments the modern professional game demands, many were as lively off the pitch as they were fiery on it! 

Featuring exclusive interviews with some of the players themselves, insights from former teammates and a foreword from refereeing legend Nigel Owens – who has himself had to deal with the actions of several who have made the list – this lively, engaging and highly readable book brings some of rugby’s craziest moments, biggest characters and most remarkable stories to life. 

One of the selection who contributed to the book was World Cup-winner and rugby legend Bakkies Botha, who said, “It’s a real privilege to be included in Hard Men of Rugby. I’ve battled against some of those included and heard some amazing stories about many of the others, so I am honoured to be part of this book.” 

Born and bred in South Wales, Luke Upton’s first job was selling match-day lottery tickets for Swansea RFC in those last few glorious years before regional rugby arrived. He now lives in London, where after working in the sports industry for five years he works as a business journalist and editor. He is the author of satirical rugby novel  Absolutely Huge  (“hilarious” –  The Guardian ),   also from Y Lolfa, and co-runs @NotGavHenson, the rugby humour Twitter account with over 42,000 followers, including a host of professional rugby players – some tough, others not so much! 

“Selecting the players for this book was a real challenge and I’m sure not everyone will agree with who’s included, but that’s all part of the fun! The criteria was that, yes, they had to be tough – and this could include aspects on and off the pitch – but also they had to be very good players. This rules our mindless thugs, cheats or cowards, and those super-tough guys who just weren’t quite up to scratch at the top level of the game. So, look at the list, think of your country of club in the era in which those individuals played and consider if you would have had them in your team. I think the answer would be overwhelmingly ‘yes’,” said Luke. 

So pull on your boots, apply your strapping and come face to face with the Phantom Major, the Iron Duke, Car Crash, the Blackpool Tower, the Caveman and the rest  of them…

One of the first superstars of rugby union, Terry Davies, reveals the truth about his life in rugby in the 1950s as well as the loss of his talented brother to leukaemia at a young age in his long awaited autobiography this week.

He also reveals all about what happened to that crossbar that was stolen from Twickenham in 1958.

Terry Davies - Wales’s First Superstar Fullback  by Terry Davies with Geraint Thomas is a tale of a typical working-class upbringing and coming of age before finding glory on the rugby field – is as much a social commentary as a fascinating insight into the heydays of amateurism.

The post-war period saw top rugby players in Wales achieve the kind of fame once associated with Hollywood movie stars and few captured the headlines more often than Terry Davies. The boy from Bynea, who combined the good looks of a young Robert Redford with silky skills and tough as teak tackling, went on to wow crowds across the rugby playing world through his displays for Wales and the British and Irish Lions.

The book tells of the remarkable life story of the Lions star, encompassing his childhood in Llanelli, learning rugby in Strade School, making his debut as a schoolboy for Swansea, entering the Royal Marines and winning his first cap before going on to become a household name.

From the highs of touring New Zealand and beating the All Blacks in their own back yard to the lows of a career-threatening shoulder injury, his rugby journey, which began as a nervous 17 year old one rainy day up in Ebbw Vale and ended with universal acclaim, is real Roy of the Rovers stuff .

Terry also remains one of the few living Welshmen to have won a test match in New Zealand.

‘Terry is a natural storyteller,’ said co-writer Geraint Thomas, ‘His book is packed with humour. He typifies the Welsh humour once so prevalent amongst the working class,’

‘His tale is both a social commentary and cultural account of Welsh life pre and post war as well as a priceless account of a bygone age of rugby union’ added Geraint.

‘As a young inspiring player he left a huge impression on me due to the way he stood out from the rest.’ added Sir Gareth Edwards, who wrote the introduction to the book.

The book is presented in memory of Terry’s brother Len, who was caped for Wales before Terry, but died in his 20s of leukaemia.

Geraint Thomas is a Swansea Valley based journalist, writer and playwright. After graduating from Cardiff University's School of Journalism he secured a position as a news reporter on the South Wales Evening Post where he is currently still employed. He also writes the occasional feature for Swansea Life magazine.

His play, the comedy Roofless, which is set around the Welsh rugby Grand Slam of 2005, played in the Grand Theatre Swansea in March 2008.

The book will be launched officially at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli at 7pm on Thursday the 20 ^th of October.

Terry Davies: Wales’s first superstar fullback by Geraint Thomas (£9.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.

‘The hugely successful 2015 World Cup obscured the reality rugby union has become too dangerous’ according to John Dawes - architect of the historic 1971 Lions triumph in New Zealand.

His views come from the new updated edition of John Dawes: The Man who Changed the World of Rugby by Ross Reyburn in which Dawes and the late Carwyn James cite their views on what could be done to transform the modern game for the better. 

Reyburn’s biography is the only first-hand account of the 1971 Lions in print backtracking the tour’s success to its birthplace at Old Deer Park where Dawes created the  spectacular London Welsh side in the late 1960s. And it also provides as shrewd an analysis of the faults of modern rugby as you will find anywhere in The Legacy of the Dawes Era chapter.   

Carwyn James and the late Daily Telegraph rugby correspondent John Reason in their book  The World of Rugby – A History of Rugby Union Football  published in 1979 with prophetic foresight attacked a new  law allowing tackled players to pass the ball if they kept it off the ground wrote:

‘If the tackler is not rewarded with at least an interruption in the attacking side’s control of  the ball ...he will  stand up and maul for the ball, as they do in rugby league. Is that really what the International Board wants from rugby union football?

The changes in the tackle law ...have introduced the pile-up, as players seek to keep the ball off the ground and opponents  seek to smother it. The solution is obvious. Return to the old law which required a player immediately to release the ball once he had been brought to the ground.’  

John  Dawes, who translated his vision of attacking 15-man rugby perfected at London Welsh to the 1971 Lions in his great partnership  with  James, echoed similar concerns telling Reyburn in 2013:

‘What the game has developed now is physicality. These days the first thing you look at in a player is how big he is, how strong he is.  You don’t see the ball go down the line from set pieces. What you see is a mess. You would be penalized in our day for a pile-up. But now they just dive in jumping on each ther. I can’t  understand how the referee allows it. Playing physically as they do now injuries will increase.’

Dawes’s injuries prediction has proved all too true and in April  2015 Prof Allyson Pollock  argued the game was too dangerous in its existing form for schools. Reyburn argues backing the views of Carwyn James and John Dawes need not be complex. World Rugby needs to return to the old tackle law, ensure existing laws are strictly enforced so the straight scrum feed returns and solo clear-out charges are penalised and return rugby to its traditional role as a 15-man game cutting the substitutes bench to four players available only as blood or injury replacements.

It is now over 30 years since Carwyn James sadly died aged just 53 and John Dawes’s direct involvement in the game has passed. But rugby union’s debt to these two visionaries from the Welsh valleys need not have ended.

The updated edition of Ross Reyburn’s biography, The Man Who Changed the World of Rugby – John Dawes and the Legendary 1971 British Lions (Y Lolfa, paperback £9.99) is available now.  

It includes articles by former Wales and Lions flanker John Taylor, the late Evening Standard sports editor  JL Manning and former Birmingham Post rugby correspondent Michael Blair highlighting the debt the game owes Dawes.

"One of the saddest and most inspirational sports autobiographies you''ll ever read"

The poignant story of Bryan ''Yogi'' Davies who, during a rugby scrum at a match in Bala in 2007, broke his neck and was paralyzed. The book follows his day-to-day struggle to come to terms with the horrific incident. "

Five minutes into a rugby match between Bala and nant Conwy on 21st April 2007, the first scrum collapsed leaving Bala hooker, Bryan ''Yogi'' Davies, with life changing injuries: a broken neck and damaged lungs.

This book tells the story of his life before the accident and his heroic fight for survival following the scrum that changed his life.

The book is set in three parts: part one of each chapter follows developments since his accident, part two looks back at Yogi''s life before the tragic scrum and his struggle against the odds even then, whilst part three conveys the thoughts and reactions of his wife Susan to events - the policewoman who has been a tower of strength throughout to Yogi and the children.

The book is full of humour and sadness, and is a picture of optimism and fortitude in the face of tragedy. Sadly weeks before publication, Yogi passed away. But, with a postscript, a tribute by his daughter and his final letter, the book should prove to be an inspiration to everyone.

Buy 'The Scrum That Changed My Life ' here

We are proud and pleased to announce that our good friend and AmeriCymru member  Ralph Jones has just published his fourth book:- Klondyke Tales: A History of the Dowlais RFC The book is a history of the Dowlais rugby football club and the people who made it.

  Rugby Mania: A Quiz Book For Fans by Tomos Morse