Slammed the 70s P1

Welsh Rugby of the 70s

[@DannyG-cv8so]

I’m an Englishman, but I’ve always said that it’s such a shame there weren’t rugby world cups back then, cuz that Welsh team would have won them ALL, in the 70s. Great team indeed. JPR Williams was THE best 15 EVER!

[@matthew-tx6is]

Why weren’t there any world cups, there was in football

[@bppmurphy]

​​@@matthew-tx6iswas to do with keeping the whole "amateur ethos" I suppose

[@Trajan2401]

Rubbish Wales haven't beaten NZ since 1953 and only 3 times ever and even when they had their greatest players in the 70s they still couldn't beat NZ

[@bppmurphy]

@@Trajan2401 maybe not, but I know Llanelli and Newport beat New Zealand in the 60s and 70s, so if Welsh club sides could beat them it's not beyond the realms of possibility that a Welsh national side could have beaten New Zealand if a world cup fixture came around in an alternate universe

[@brentinnes5151]

yes..after a fair bit of analysing JPR was definitely best fullback in world in 70's probably 80's maybe more, what a player!! won a test for Lions with 40 metre drop kick!

[@keithwatkins7908]

What a brilliant documentary. Great memories, and great rugby from legends of the game. Thanks for the upload.

[@dgooders1554]

These legends truly send shivers down my spine. You couldn't write a greater story. Although Words don't do justice to these trailblazers. Rugby union owes these guys for shaping an exciting flowing game that is still useful, even in today's game of water tight defences, there is room for audacious skill. The world is still cutting this key.

[@steffanhoffmann]

Great comments buddy.

[@DannyG-cv8so]

I’m an Englishman, but I’ve always said that if there were rugby world cups back then, Wales would have won them ALL, in the 70s. Great team indeed. JPR Williams was THE best 15 EVER!

[@steffanhoffmann]

@@DannyG-cv8so Couldn't agree more. I'm a Bok, lived in Kensington and Chelsea since I was 12. Papa's work. It amazes me how such a small nation can do all this. I used to go to Cardiff, with my Welsh mates. Passion...many more platitudes. Clive Woodward best friend, and room mate in the Lions, Ray Gravell. He called up Gavin Henson and Alfie, when the Lions had problems in 2005. He knew 👍 Me? Shane Williams in the modern game. Everybody else from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 😂 👍

[@hunterluxton5976]

Superb series. Great insights from genuine icons of the game. Thanks for uploading. ❤

[@steffanhoffmann]

Yes indeed buddy.

[@coolhandlukegbr]

The 'squad training sessions' on a Sunday would require Dawes, Taylor, Davies, JPR travelling down the M4 on a Saturday night together. It was revolutionary - now we have 'team time' during a professional's weekly prep for the weekend game.

[@jakubwidlarz]

Hard to believe that out of the Mount Rushmore of that era only Gareth remains and Phil, Barry and JPR have all left us.

[@KernowekTim]

John Bevan, JJ, Barry, Merv........The English XV are having a tough 6 Nations up in Heaven, I expect.

[@jakubwidlarz]

@@KernowekTim Forget England, what about the All Blacks?!

[@stanleyrobson4622]

Brilliant documentary! Just brilliant! Thanks for sharing.

[@steffanhoffmann]

It's a fact that Welsh people regard this as a religion. Even more so than Boks or ABs. Graham Henry their 1st foreign coach said so. He recounted the time whilst shopping in Tesco supermarket. Late 1990s where a complete stranger from the small town of Neath. Approached him and told him to pick a small man from Neath, Shane Williams. Henry had toured the areas of Wales but had not gone to Neath. He cancelled plans and caught the game in Neath unannounced. Shane played a blinder. Ordinary guy was right.

[@stanleyrobson4622]

@@steffanhoffmann I can believe and really appreciate the almost unmatched level of passion of the Welsh for the game, but I wouldn't like to argue who loves the game the most. Growing up in the 80's in a "rugby crazy family" any other sport barely existed (nevermind mattered) to us. I really find it hard to imagine anyone loving rugby more than South African rugby fans.😜

[@steffanhoffmann]

@@stanleyrobson4622 I'm a Bok. I moved to Kensington and Chelsea in London, as a 12 year old. My father was a top engineer. I have friends in Cardiff. When the Boks were in UK, something like 15 years ago I think. I saw 4 fans outside a restaurant in Cardiff. I was with my Welsh friend. I asked them why they were there, as I don't think the Boks played in Wales that Autumn. They told me they were in the London area. Wanted to see Wales ground etc. Decided a few hours earlier, to cancel the accommodation in London 😂 Two friends of theirs had gone back to get their luggage. They liked the camaraderie in Wales, Welsh people made a fuss of them. They didn't have tickets for the England game anyway, were hoping to get them somewhere near Twickenham. However they decided to watch it on the TV big screen in Cardiff. As Welsh boys told them they'd be cheering for a Boks victory. Going slightly off the subject Recently Warren Gatland was asked, why 6 Nations was special to him. He said it's like no other pressure. He added when ABs or Boks, play an international, against someone on home soil, 90% are home supporters. But In 6 Nations 40% (except Italy) are away supporters. Atmospherically charged. By the way there are many Kiwi bars etc in Cardiff. Some Boks too...one owns a small hotel just a miles walk from the ground.

[@stanleyrobson4622]

@@steffanhoffmann What an awesome experience! Dit klink na lekker tye daai. Wat 'n voorreg. Hoop jy kan darem nog Afrikaans verstaan!😜😁

[@user-tz3il3dz3k]

Thank you so much for posting this - some of these welsh players from the 70s still make my best ever lions 15 - and I’m English 😂

[@GraemetheGuiriLordHaHa]

In the opening, I almost expected Gareth Edwards to come running over the crest of a hill singing 'The hills are alive ... '

[@bppmurphy]

And again id like to say that as an Irishman, we're being spoiled a little bit by how well things are going here, but you can't have rugby without the Welsh. I do hope things get better for them.

[@GraemetheGuiriLordHaHa]

That's a great quality screen recorder you've got!! Thanks for this. True magic. I guess Wales is 'The Principality' because it's players are princes!

[@TheNotrac]

It is a shame that they showed the defeat in Ireland in 1970 before the England game at Twickenham famous now for Chico Hopkins's rare appearance in a Wales shirt. The England game was played first and Wales only got their noses in front in the last ten minutes. The Ireland game took place two weeks later and Ireland were pretty sore after the 1969 game and Price's punch on Noel Murphy early on. Even the soon to be invested Prince of Wales must have seen it! Having been at the Twickenham match, I had a feeling that Wales could come unstuck in Dublin. I can confirm that it was a significant defeat. Thanks for putting it on KZbin. It was great to see it all again.

[@timphillips9954]

Magic men, magic team, magic time! Cymru am byth

[@jerryoshea3116]

Growing up in the 70's i was more of a football ( or Soccer player& fan) but i still enjoyed watching the great players like Gareth Edwards,Bennet,Gerald Davies,J.P Williams,Barrie John,the names just rolled off the Tongue of that Legend Bill McClaren on the BBC ( when it still produced quality) on a Sat afternoon,simpler but memorable times none the less! And i nearly forgot,the Welsh,Scots and Irish Anthems are still something to behold!

[@jameselliott9866]

Spectacular! Thanks for the upload

[@keddw]

Really enjoyable. Probably a great deal more enjoyable to be involved, even though it was becoming more competitive, than the awful professional era we have now

[@KernowekTim]

In those days, Giants walked the Land of 'an Kembrek.'

[@steffanhoffmann]

Keith Jarrett just a kid out of school. Inspirational.

[@ldfreitas9437]

Then he goes "North."

[@thingme9941]

The Wallabies victories over Wales and England and the Barbarians led to them believing they could no longer remain as easy-beats.

[@AE-Rugby]

very lekker content this . Very enjoyable . Thankyou

[@TheForkhandles]

Great stuff. Looking forward to P2.

[@dnorfed]

I hate it when the media can’t wait to slam a side if they lose a few games on the bounce, they were amateur those days, with jobs, imagine being smashed to bits on a Saturday afternoon and expecting to limp into work on a Monday morning, these guys were only human, and they eclipsing the word human, the 70’s were a great time for British rugby, especially the welsh. The only trouble being, they were held back by stuffy men in suits, who knew nothing of what the players had to go through

[@MrAhuapai]

Not sure why Wales have never been able to replicate the success of its seventies era teams . 60 years is lot time between drinks.

[@steffanhoffmann]

Good comments buddy. It's true.

[@barneypaws4883]

It tried in the 80's but all their star players went north. Come the 90's Wales were left with a massive rebuilding project, much like they have now with players becoming ineligible by moving to England or France to play

[@thingme9941]

The British Lions series win against the All Blacks and the Barbarians win against the All Blacks gave Welsh rugby a filip for a brief time.

[@bppmurphy]

What I always found quite sad about Welsh rugby was essentially the death of it's club scene. I suppose it was never going to survive the professional era really. But it's just such a shame that the names of famous old clubs like Neath, Aberavon and Pontypridd are largely lost on younger followers of the game like myself outside of Wales. Of course the 70s were when the clubs were thriving, I wonder can the WRU take a piece of advice from it's past to develop it's future? I'm sure those within the game in Wales would know more than I do, but I do think it's such a shame.

[@ldfreitas9437]

I'm in California. I've been involved with rugby since 1973 when I was in my first year at Santa Clara University. Practically any American in the US then first saw rugby at 17 or 18 years old, if their school had a rugby team. What I remember was this period of time from the late 70s and on through the 80s when there were many adult club sides along with the university teams in Northern California. The top division had six clubs, all with three sides, and three of those clubs were in San Francisco. The second division, having about twelve clubs, had two sides (I played for one of them in the 80s), and those clubs were in quite a few various cities. There were a handful of women's sides, usually connected to established clubs, and the universities were adding more rugby, for both sexes. By the late 90s, it seemed the participation was going downhill. Many clubs disappeared. Five clubs in San Francisco in 1990 had become one club by 2001. At least out of that amalgamation came a club house and pitch, but that's even gone, as the lease from the city for the club and pitch expired in 2020. Condos have taken that same space. They moved to a Gaelic Athletic Association field nearby (this is on Treasure Island in the middle of the SF Bay). The GAA was okay with SF Golden Gate RFC playing on one of their two pitches, but not okay about sharing their club house. Anyway, I hear you about the demise of clubs. It's happened here at the place in the USA that was once considered the "hotbed" of rugby.

[@bppmurphy]

@@ldfreitas9437 interesting to hear that given that there seems to be this narrative, at least on this side of the Atlantic that rugby is a fast growing sport in the states but by, judging by your recollections, that appears not to be the case. But then again I assume it's relative to the sporting culture within a certain part of the States, after all it is a pretty big place. And to be honest, being Irish, I'm not surprised by the GAA clubs reaction, to be honest I'm surprised they let them play on their grounds given how much they could get scalped for insurance should anything happen. But there's a political aspect to it too which I'm not going to get into. Anyway, great to hear your response bud always great to hear stories about the game we love no matter where in the world

[@ldfreitas9437]

@@bppmurphy There is Major League Rugby now, a professional league of union that has been going on for some time, whose season is just starting up. I know of a few just out of university who have gotten try-outs and made it. I don't know what the pay is, and to be honest, there are plenty of foreign players, many Islanders. San Diego and Seattle have teams, not San Francisco (their team failed about six years back), in Houston, New York, Denver I believe, and a New England team come to mind. Also, the WPL, Women's Pro League, plays in the late summer and fall months. Games are sometimes on the TV. It's the one ray of hope for rugby union in the States. By the way, we host the RWC in 2031. I think California is going to host and there will be games in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. October is the best month for weather on the coast in California. So, no doubt a number of night matches. My take on things is that going from an amateur sport to a professional one in one big swoop was a mistake. Semi-professionalism should have been tried first, because it was de-facto going on anyway at the top level of the game. Total professionalism could have come about after a period of transition. Can't get the spilled milk back in the bottle now!

[@ldfreitas9437]

@@bppmurphy Regarding GAA in SF, they're fine with rugby. On the youth level, some of the GAA kids have been playing youth rugby as well. SF has a rather large Irish-American population, but I know what you mean, because rugby was something only the Jesuit schools played in Ireland in the old days. Actually, another club was already using their side pitch prior to 2020 when SF Golden Gate lost their lease. They just didn't want their club house to be used for socials post matches. The plan has been to build one out of shipping containers on the same site, but that seems like a pipe dream. There was an old navy base on Treasure Island for decades, it got closed down, and that's how SFGG got the pitch and club house, which had been the base grocery store. It was truly the only real clubhouse in California for any rugby club. It had the bar, dining area, showers, separate for both sexes, even a room for referees, which I got to use a few times. Greedy real estate interests ended all that!

[@Trajan2401]

I often hear about how great the welsh players were in the 70s yet none of them ever beat NZ playing for Wales

[@brentinnes5151]

they did it for the Lions..that 71 team was mostly Welsh..

[@KernowekTim]

The Llanelli men were playing for Wales when they beat the All Blacks in '72. Llanelli is a very Welsh place, you know. Welshmen live there. Very tough, too, they are.

[@KernowekTim]

Llanelli did the ABs good and proper. Really peed on their fire they did. Put it out they did.@@brentinnes5151

[@ldfreitas9437]

@ekTim I've never spent much time in Wales: an afternoon in Cardiff and for a night match in Gweryfed the day before, while staying near Cheltenham and using the train for a day trip. I've been to Cornwall and Devon though, and have seen that rugby is a very, very popular sport in those two counties. There are more rugby pitches than football.

[@stevepirate]

Mint

[@BrianWilliams-ve6pn]

The late great JPR Williams and Gareth Edwards look like they could be brothers as they aged

[@ldfreitas9437]

Something I still don't understand about the amateur status of players. I've read up on some players, some who were indeed journalists working for a newspaper, who either did or didn't "professionalize" themselves by doing so. The late Frank Keating comes to mind. He did play for a low ranked club in Gloucester and wrote for a local paper. I guess if one played in the lower division, not senior top clubs, it didn't matter.

[@ldfreitas9437]

Makes you want to rewrite the law books so rugby can be the same again. Amateur, forwards fighting for ball, no defensive lines, space for backs to run, tactical kicking.