0:00:02 > 0:00:05When the air is cold, when nothing in the ground outside grows,
0:00:05 > 0:00:08we come to life.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11'Tipuric. Tipuric still going.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13'To Cuthbert.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15'Cuthbert's second try.'
0:00:15 > 0:00:19For over 50 years, I have been watching it...
0:00:19 > 0:00:23'Can he score? It would be a miracle if he could. He may well get there.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25'And he has.'
0:00:28 > 0:00:29..playing in it...
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'He heads for the flag. Butler scores!'
0:00:32 > 0:00:35..writing, commentating on it...
0:00:35 > 0:00:36on good days...
0:00:36 > 0:00:38AS COMMENTATOR: Wales can celebrate.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41..difficult days and strange nights.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Tonight's headlines:
0:00:43 > 0:00:46He is alleged to have driven a golf buggy on the M4.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49I'm off on tour to feel its glow,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53touch its madness...
0:00:53 > 0:00:56'To compare me in a poll as one of Wales's most hated men,'
0:00:56 > 0:00:59putting me between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02I kind of think, hold on a minute.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05It does cast a strange spell.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09It can be a bit weird, but it is so very dear to us.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24When I was nine, a gang of us sat down in front of the television -
0:01:24 > 0:01:27black-and-white - and watched the last game of the championship,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Wales - England. England were going for the title.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Wales hadn't won a game,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37but we were more interested in an 18-year-old player picked to play in
0:01:37 > 0:01:39his very first game.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42'This is Jarrett.'
0:01:42 > 0:01:43He was from our school in Monmouth
0:01:43 > 0:01:48and it has been known ever since as the Keith Jarrett game.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50'A remarkable try!'
0:01:50 > 0:01:5312 and a half years later, I got my first job teaching
0:01:53 > 0:01:57and the head of rugby at Cheltenham College was Roger Hosen,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59a proud Cornishman and plucked out of retirement
0:01:59 > 0:02:02to be Keith Jarrett's opposite number that day.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Now, he was obviously on the receiving end,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07but at the end of term,
0:02:07 > 0:02:10he showed all the school teams the film of the game.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13"Why did you do that?" I asked,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15knowing Roger never played for England again.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19"Because I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24A teenage hero, a losing veteran.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28We sway between the extremes, uplifted by the moment...
0:02:28 > 0:02:31'Shane Williams!'
0:02:31 > 0:02:34..travelling every long mile...
0:02:34 > 0:02:37'Wales have won the Grand Slam!'
0:02:37 > 0:02:39..every millimetre.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41'Is it long enough? It's not.'
0:02:45 > 0:02:47We all bear Six Nations' scars.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50They come with playing and working.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55To London, to be lacerated, no doubt, by one who cares.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57'They've kicked it away again.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00'Toby Flood. God's sake!'
0:03:04 > 0:03:05You do take some finding.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08My dear man. Come in and enjoy some electricity.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Ah, the pit bull.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Our Brian, the scourge of Wales back in the day and here's why.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Now, imagine a young Brian Moore
0:03:20 > 0:03:23going to Twickenham for the very first time.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27I was stood in front of a group of Welsh blokes, big blokes behind me,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and I had a little flag like all us schoolkids did.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I was waving it. And one of them said to me, "Listen,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36"I haven't come bleep here to watch
0:03:36 > 0:03:40"you bleep waving a bleep flag in front of me."
0:03:42 > 0:03:44And so, like everyone else,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47we were a bit intimidated because we were little kids, but you know what?
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Before every Wales game, I told that story back to myself and said,
0:03:51 > 0:03:52- right...- This is typical you.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57Instead of remembering the occasion fondly, you're scarred by it.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Absolutely, motivational, yes.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01- It worked though.- Yeah.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06But having sort of built the Welsh up to be a certain thing,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10I remember you taking your cans off and going, "Oh...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12"I get it."
0:04:12 > 0:04:15That was the first of the three Grand Slams that Wales have
0:04:15 > 0:04:21done recently and I remember turning round and seeing...
0:04:23 > 0:04:28..three blokes behind us who were roughly our age in tears and
0:04:28 > 0:04:33I suddenly... It suddenly came to me what it meant to them.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38As not just rugby fans, but as a national thing.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41And it wasn't until I'd actually seen that
0:04:41 > 0:04:45that I really truly understood that when people talk about
0:04:45 > 0:04:48the game being in their nation's soul,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52that it actually is for a lot of people.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54MUSIC: You Sexy Thing (I Believe in Miracles) by Hot Chocolate
0:04:54 > 0:04:56For those of us of a certain age,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01the volume of this soul music was set in the 1970s and set loud.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The golden decade of three Grand Slams.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08- BILL MCLAREN:- Thomas again.
0:05:08 > 0:05:09Edwards to Barry John.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Out to John Dawes. John Williams.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Gerald Davies. Can Ian Smith get him?
0:05:15 > 0:05:16It's Gerald Davies for Wales.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20As a schoolgirl in 1976,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23we were asked to draw a picture that meant Wales to us.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26One friend drew a daffodil,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28another one of the girls drew a pithead wheel,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30and I drew Mervyn Davies.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31So...that kind of sums up
0:05:31 > 0:05:34the impact rugby was having in our household.
0:05:34 > 0:05:35It was a big part of family life.
0:05:35 > 0:05:40The Davieses, Merv the Swerve and this one...
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Gerald Davies. What was he doing there?
0:05:42 > 0:05:45And you can see, Davies...
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Phil Bennett.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Bennet out to David Burcher.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Burcher back inside to Fenwick to Bennett.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Oh! This is going to be the try of the championship.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Oh, to play like Phil Bennett.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06I went out to the field behind the house
0:06:06 > 0:06:08and there were two donkeys in the field and I was about six,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11seven years old at the time and I went out to this rugby ball,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13pretending to be Phil Bennett.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15And here I was now sort of side-stepping
0:06:15 > 0:06:18and trying to kick over this donkey and, you know,
0:06:18 > 0:06:21catching the ball and scoring a try on my own there
0:06:21 > 0:06:23and that was my first memory of the Six Nations.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27There are the donkeys in any team and stars in this team -
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, Ray Gravell.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34Superstars. Legend has it that there was the team of the '70s,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38so self-possessed and confident.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39You have characters in this side
0:06:39 > 0:06:41and, you know, the laughter and humour.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44We had the legend JPR at fullback and Gareth was kicking and doing
0:06:44 > 0:06:46everything there and he said,
0:06:46 > 0:06:47"Benny, tell him to pass the ball,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50"for God's sake! I'm getting cold here and I want to come in."
0:06:50 > 0:06:54I'd say to Gareth, "The nutter is saying you've got to pass the ball."
0:06:54 > 0:06:55"Tell him to..."
0:06:56 > 0:06:59And you've got Grav alongside you, who...
0:06:59 > 0:07:02You know, the great thing with JPR wanting to run and tackle
0:07:02 > 0:07:04and bust everyone and Edwards not passing the ball
0:07:04 > 0:07:06and then Grav saying to me,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08"I'm looking good, aren't I? I'm strong, aren't I?"
0:07:08 > 0:07:10"Grav, you're the best centre in the world."
0:07:10 > 0:07:12He always used to say to me, you know, Eddie, there was a centre
0:07:12 > 0:07:14playing for Ireland, Dick Milliken.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Grav said to me, "You like him, don't you?"
0:07:16 > 0:07:17I said, "No, like, he's all right."
0:07:17 > 0:07:20"You don't like him better than me, do you?"
0:07:20 > 0:07:21"No, you're my number one man."
0:07:21 > 0:07:24"He's a big bloke, mind." "Not as big as me?"
0:07:24 > 0:07:25"No, no, not as big as you, Grav."
0:07:25 > 0:07:29By the end of the game, I was thinking, "Oh, I'm glad to get off this pitch!"
0:07:31 > 0:07:33This was the age of taking easily to the air.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37So when this team flew to Paris, the fans went too.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42The airport - the launch pad for the away trip.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46The travelling fans such an important factor in the rugby experience.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51Their presence can be so positive and yet their adventures can be...
0:07:51 > 0:07:54on the wild side.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58It was all best encapsulated in a film made 40 years ago.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Grand Slam, fly on the wall documentary it has been said.
0:08:03 > 0:08:09But no, it was a fictional drama set around the real 1977 showdown
0:08:09 > 0:08:15between France and Wales, the giants then of the Five Nations.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Phil Bennett!
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Oh, Phil Bennett, what about him?
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Phil Bennett!
0:08:21 > 0:08:22Oh, aye?
0:08:22 > 0:08:25LAUGHTER
0:08:25 > 0:08:27So, anyway,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Phil Bennett was playing
0:08:29 > 0:08:33because he was substitute. I was supposed to play...
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Oh!
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Eddie!
0:08:38 > 0:08:42Dewi Pws, actor.
0:08:42 > 0:08:43Come on in.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Do you think that, you know, it was a landmark drama?
0:08:49 > 0:08:51That it sort of added something
0:08:51 > 0:08:53to the whole thing about the Six Nations?
0:08:53 > 0:08:55The travelling, the sense of being there?
0:08:55 > 0:08:59- I was there, you know. - It was a bit because,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01as you say, it's on the periphery...
0:09:01 > 0:09:04It's very important with the supporters.
0:09:04 > 0:09:05The supporters make it, I think.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08The players know that. I don't know if when you were playing
0:09:08 > 0:09:09you were aware how important it is.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12No, they do. They do.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Players heading for the Park de Prince.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20One of them an Oscar winner for playing a sheikh in Ben Hur.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Now playing Caradog Lloyd-Evans, funeral director.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Hugh Griffith.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29We never had a weekend like that because...
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Basically because of Hugh.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Oh, he was such a character.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Much larger than life.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41He said, "Right, I'm going to take you to this strip club."
0:09:41 > 0:09:44We went, got in, I mean they all knew him.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49- FRENCH ACCENT:- International acteur fameux Monsieur Hugh Griffith.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52On stage, you know, with the strippers.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54"Thank you, thank you."
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Within ten minutes, we'd had the kick out.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57He'd pinched one of the strippers' bums.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59"Out! Out!"
0:09:59 > 0:10:01On the street again.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Grand Slam was made 40 years ago.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10It was very much of the 1970s, but somehow remains timeless.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12You can recognise those characters today.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16I mean, I go on tour with the Six Nations every year
0:10:16 > 0:10:20and you still see people like Mog, you know, puffing out his chest,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24leading the troops into the battle of the nightclubs, you know?
0:10:24 > 0:10:27You still see people like, you know, the old man,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30someone's always brought their elderly dad or their grandad
0:10:30 > 0:10:33along who is desperately trying to keep up with all the young drinkers.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35I mean, I've been to Paris quite recently
0:10:35 > 0:10:38when I saw 25 boys dressed as sheep
0:10:38 > 0:10:41being herded by Little Bo Peep, you know,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43who was also male in a very short skirt.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46And they almost brought the French presidential motorcade to a halt
0:10:46 > 0:10:48that day, you know, in the middle of Paris.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51So you still see these sights of people misbehaving
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and having an amazing time on tour.
0:10:55 > 0:11:01- Yeah?- Fair play, it's not every day we get weekend like that, eh?
0:11:01 > 0:11:05There was no happy ending to the film Grand Slam,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07but it captured the spirit of that age -
0:11:07 > 0:11:11the humour, the confidence, the swagger.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15And there would be a Grand Slam the very next year.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18JJ Williams. To Bennett.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20It's another try.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24And then came the 1980s, a new generation...
0:11:24 > 0:11:26And so Eddie Butler comes on.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28How young!
0:11:28 > 0:11:32..and the swagger sort of went out of the Welsh game
0:11:32 > 0:11:35and instead of a whole decade of success,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37there were just fleeting moments.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38Good reverse pass. Jonathan Davies.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40There's that acceleration.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Very, very quick.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Back goes Derek White.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45The try is scored.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Wonderful try by Davies.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Good moments, brilliant moments.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54...Evans can get there before Jonathan Webb.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56He will!
0:11:56 > 0:12:01But just moments that didn't lead to any sustained success.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Mind you, moments can stay with you for a very long time.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08TRUMPET FANFARE
0:12:08 > 0:12:12# I saw the light from the night that I passed by her window... #
0:12:12 > 0:12:171999, the Millennium Stadium was under construction in Cardiff.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22Wales's temporary home was Wembley, there to play England.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25England going for the Grand Slam and in the lead until...
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Scott Quinnell. A burst by Scott Gibbs.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Scott Gibbs is through.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Scott Gibbs has scored.
0:12:35 > 0:12:36What an amazing try.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40You think how we celebrated that game.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44I had a set of three kind of jink by jink photographs of Scott Gibbs
0:12:44 > 0:12:46scoring that try, you know?
0:12:46 > 0:12:48I had the video.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50I've still got the ticket on my pin board
0:12:50 > 0:12:55because victories against England felt so precious.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57I mean, it seems really daft now. It seems stupid, doesn't it?
0:12:57 > 0:13:00That this one single game became so massive,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03but when you'd waited so long, and it meant so much, you know.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05It wasn't even like a championship-winning game,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07we just beat England,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11and yet... And yet, I had every souvenir going.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15On the winning side that day, Colin Charvis,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17one of his 94 caps for Wales.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20He'd be captain and would score 22 tries
0:13:20 > 0:13:25which still stands as the record for a Welsh forward.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29He's still wearing the red shirt, but doing something a bit different,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32running his own flooring company in Swansea.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Can I kind of take you back to a rugby career
0:13:38 > 0:13:40that had many contrasts?
0:13:40 > 0:13:43The good times. Can you remember the Wembley game against England?
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Yeah, I think that
0:13:46 > 0:13:48when you say the good times...
0:13:48 > 0:13:52And we can talk about bad times as well, Eddie, I'm not shy any more.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56But, yeah, some of the great times that we had,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00that win against England in Wembley in '99,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04I think now when I look back on it, I know it was a home fixture,
0:14:04 > 0:14:05but it was in London.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09And I remember on our way back that there were Welsh flags hung up on
0:14:09 > 0:14:12all the bridges along the M4, and you kind of thought,
0:14:12 > 0:14:14there's somebody from Aber Cwmtwrch who's gone home
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and his mum's gone crazy about, "Where's his flag gone?"
0:14:17 > 0:14:20But, you know, for the team driving home that day, you know,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23it was kind of like every seven or eight minutes,
0:14:23 > 0:14:24you went under a bridge
0:14:24 > 0:14:28and just felt that little bit more special with that victory.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32OK, we come to the day when he was captain in Rome.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34A day not so special,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37or special for all the wrong reasons.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40Italy celebrate.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42They've created history.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44For the first time ever,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48they've beaten Wales in a senior international...
0:14:48 > 0:14:51During the game, the captain was replaced.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54It happens. But what must never happen
0:14:54 > 0:14:57is to let slip even a half smile.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59A newspaper poll placed him second
0:14:59 > 0:15:02on their list of most hated men in Wales.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04It was a terrible day, you know.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08The captain being pulled off the pitch is not a norm.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12We were losing to Italy, which would have been the first time, you know,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14we'd lost in the tournament to Italy.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17Sometimes, the media need a pantomime villain.
0:15:17 > 0:15:23You know, to compare me in a poll as one of Wales's most hated men,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26putting me between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28I kind of think, 'Hold on a minute.'
0:15:28 > 0:15:34You know, either put me above them or put me below, but not in between!
0:15:34 > 0:15:38That defeat in Rome, that season Wales finished last.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39Worth bearing in mind
0:15:39 > 0:15:43because it is in Italy that we start this time around.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46On the other hand, to play with style in Rome,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50the start of something altogether different.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Gareth Thomas cutting loose. Support there from Martyn Williams.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Up to the 22 and it's Morgan himself.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Finds Shane Williams.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02What a try for Wales.
0:16:03 > 0:16:072005, the start of a run not seen for 27 years.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Wins in Rome, Paris, Scotland.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Wins at home over England.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Step four is complete.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Wales are just one step from the heaven of a Grand Slam.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23I speak to younger people about this,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26and they can't quite get it because they've grown up seeing, you know,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29Grand Slams, championships,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31you know, a World Cup semifinal.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34You can't imagine what it meant to people of my age
0:16:34 > 0:16:38who had never seen a Grand Slam in our adult lives
0:16:38 > 0:16:40to see Wales do that in 2005.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47To Dublin, not what Wales did for the final part of the drama in '05,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51but very much part of the saga it became -
0:16:51 > 0:16:55the home of Irish rugby, where the Ruddock family have made their home.
0:16:55 > 0:16:56Are you buying me lunch?
0:16:56 > 0:17:00Coach Mike, son and Ireland player Rhys.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- How are you? Good to see you. - Hello, Rhys.- How are you? How's things?
0:17:03 > 0:17:06- Nice to see you.- Come on. Well, it's your club.- My club.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12You know, I'd been on the terraces as a kid watching Wales, you know,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16the Gareth Edwards sort of era, JPR, the boys...
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Ed, you would have been knocking around on the edge of that
0:17:18 > 0:17:21at the end of that era as well playing rugby,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23but certainly that era.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Winning the Grand Slams and Triple Crown,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30so I think it had been 27 years since Wales had won a Grand Slam,
0:17:30 > 0:17:35so it really was a fantastic achievement, a fantastic day.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43Supporting Wales against Ireland I suppose is funny to look back now,
0:17:43 > 0:17:45but I just remember being overwhelmingly proud
0:17:45 > 0:17:47and excited for him
0:17:47 > 0:17:49and the fact that they got the win on the Grand Slam
0:17:49 > 0:17:52made it all the more special for our family.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58O'Gara. Down towards that corner. Gethin Jenkins, he's...
0:17:58 > 0:18:00He's going to score! He is! Gareth Jenkins has scored for Wales.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Tom Shanklin. Shanklin for the line.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13Kevin Morgan. Morgan to put the seal on the win
0:18:13 > 0:18:17to put the cream on the Grand Slam cake.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22To see the crowd and the Welsh people and what it meant to them.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24I think that was the incredible thing,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27was the uplifting effect that that had on the nation
0:18:27 > 0:18:29in the barren sort of years, if you like.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34So many years where we'd underachieved as a nation
0:18:34 > 0:18:39and suddenly, we had a little bit of luck and we nailed it and, you know,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43just seeing everyone so pleased, it was incredible.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45Public scenes of joy.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Behind the scenes, not so harmonious.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51A swirling battle of loyalties.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55Within a year, Mike Ruddock was gone.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02Do you look back on Wales as a career cut short
0:19:02 > 0:19:05or was it just a step in a professional career?
0:19:05 > 0:19:07I learned a lot, Ed.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11I learned a hell of a lot. And some good and some not so good.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14You know, it's a fickle old game.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17So my attitude looking back has been, you know,
0:19:17 > 0:19:22take the trophies when they come along and just keep striving to win.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26The Six Nations is a vice.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Not as in sin, but the implement that squeezes tight
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and can hurt you.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Ireland's succour that day - Shane Byrne.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37First got into the Irish squad in 1993.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41Never out of the squad. Got my first cap in 2001.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43Twice, twice dropped directly because of my hair.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47- Really?- Yeah, yeah. That was getting off the plane in '94, I was told,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50"Well done, great tour, get your hair cut."
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I went, er, "No. Why?"
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Gone, out of the squad again.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59It always strikes me that the Welsh and the Irish
0:19:59 > 0:20:01are almost allies in a cause.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05- Yeah.- But there is quite a bitterness and quite an edge
0:20:05 > 0:20:07to the game.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10I think, with the Irish and the Welsh,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I think more so recent years,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16it was just the simple fact that we were playing so often
0:20:16 > 0:20:19in the Celtic League, as it was back then,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21and there was absolutely no love lost.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24It just built up this absolute...
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Nobody would take a step back.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30We always earmarked the Welsh game as a game that was going to be
0:20:30 > 0:20:34absolute bruise and hair and teeth and everything flying,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37because nobody would take a step back in it.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39And that's exactly what you want.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Have you got a favourite Six Nations game?
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Well, listen, you can't... The rivalry between Wales will always
0:20:46 > 0:20:50be special and we've had some amazing games against them,
0:20:50 > 0:20:54but to me, my favourite Six Nations game was when we
0:20:54 > 0:20:57beat England in Twickenham.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01It was their first home game after they had won the World Cup.
0:21:01 > 0:21:02Everything was teed up for them.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05The big, huge welcome home and everything and it was even broached,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08would you believe, during the week,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11that we should actually clap them onto the pitch.
0:21:11 > 0:21:12Can you bloody imagine?
0:21:12 > 0:21:15You know, oh, yeah, that would be a great idea(!)
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Oh, come on, lads. Jeez, that was...
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Thankfully, Brian O'Driscoll shot that down straightaway,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22whoever the hell had mentioned it.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25But it was genuinely, that's what they were thinking.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27That was the standing they put themselves in.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30And now, you know? Life after rugby?
0:21:30 > 0:21:31I've got a bit of advice.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33- Oh, really?- Get your hair cut.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Well, as you can see, it's a bit windy today, you know.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39- You're just jealous.- Yeah.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42It's true, it's true.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47If I have a ritual on commentary days,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50it is to have a quiet hour before the tumult ahead.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53To be ready for anything.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58After the Grand Slam of '05, things went a little fuzzy for Wales.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01'07 ended unhappily at the World Cup.
0:22:01 > 0:22:07We looked again to distant shores and for the Six Nations of '08,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11a new coaching team arrived led by Warren Gatland.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Shane Williams passes.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Williams...
0:22:15 > 0:22:16It's a foot race.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18And Shane Williams is going to win it.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Oh! Brilliant try.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22This is the moment that the whole of
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Wales has been waiting for.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28And after '08, 2012.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32Priestland.
0:22:32 > 0:22:33Long to Cuthbert.
0:22:33 > 0:22:34Cuthbert is clear.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Alex Cuthbert is going to score.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40And Wales strike against France.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47It's funny, you know, you go grand slam, Grand Slam, Grand Slam.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52And yet the favourite for me was '13, final game of.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Yeah. You've got this Grand Slam chasing young English
0:22:55 > 0:22:59pink-cheeked side coming down in search of all the glory.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03And we just steam-rollered them, didn't we?
0:23:03 > 0:23:05It was just immense.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Cuthbert holds off Brown.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08Cuthbert for the line.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16Since title winning 2013, there has been no outburst of delight.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17There has been a pause.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Power has passed to England,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26which is where at Harlequins,
0:23:26 > 0:23:31one of the pillars of the last nine years now plays.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35A player almost the very definition of Wales under Warren Gatland.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38- Jamie.- How are you, sir? - Just tell everybody
0:23:38 > 0:23:40meeting in a pub was our idea, OK?
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Jamie Roberts, nearly a decade in the exposure
0:23:45 > 0:23:46that comes with doing this.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Life in the glare of Wales.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51You can't escape it in some respects.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Certainly, being in and around Cardiff,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57maybe in the evenings to go for food, you feel a part of that buzz.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Your friends, family are all talking about it, all texting you, and...
0:24:01 > 0:24:05But as a side, as a squad, certainly,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07you try to keep yourself in a bit of a bubble
0:24:07 > 0:24:09and steer clear of the press.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Try to stay really focused and hope, you know,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14work hard towards our goal of winning it and, you know,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17we always speak about that as a group
0:24:17 > 0:24:19going into the first meeting of campaigns.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24But nothing quite stirs the emotion like the Six Nations.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27It's probably the most emotionally charged rugby we play.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32The highs are spectacular, the lows are dreadful.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Grown men suffer.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37This can be a cruel stage.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Deep within the Vale of Glamorgan is this, the temple of hard work,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46a bastion of Welsh manhood.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Except that in here is somebody who's certainly not a man,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52but who is very important.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The barn, where the poster reads,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00"This is where we build our victories."
0:25:03 > 0:25:06It's also where the management team works,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08where grand strategies are planned.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11It's where Caroline Morgan works.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13This is who rebuilds players.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19- Admin and also mother. There's a combination.- Isn't it just?
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Yes. Two heads.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Do you remember any incidences where you know, you have to scrape a big,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27tough boy up off the floor?
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Many times, many times when
0:25:29 > 0:25:34there's been a loss and, you know, the media, the critics are in.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36And we feel the pain exactly the same as the players,
0:25:36 > 0:25:40but we have to put our arms around them and build them back up,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43build that confidence back for them.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45I think the more successful Wales gets, the more demanding it gets
0:25:45 > 0:25:47because everybody wants a bit of them and then,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50of course, they're waiting to knock them back down.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52And then you've got to pick them back up again.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56- And if they win?- Fantastic, no better feeling.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59How did you celebrate, say, the Grand Slams?
0:25:59 > 0:26:022005 Grand Slam, I actually ran out and kissed Clive Griffiths,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04which was on the television.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06It also made the DVDs, so...
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Did you go into the changing room afterwards?
0:26:08 > 0:26:10I don't go into the changing room.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12I feel that's a little bit - not my domain.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15If I've got to go in there for work purposes, I will,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17but that belongs to the players.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20I think you earn the right to be in that changing room.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25They come, they go.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30For the moment, these are the players who have earned the right to
0:26:30 > 0:26:35brave the perils, to put themselves through hell because there are
0:26:35 > 0:26:38wonders to be had in what they are about to do.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42The Six Nations stirs the emotions like no other tournament.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46As a player, there's so much tradition and history,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49and to be a part of that is an absolute privilege.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54You do go into some games sometimes knowing, this is big.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57I don't really get nervous,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00but I do get this sort of butterflies and on some occasions,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02on the big occasions,
0:27:02 > 0:27:06you do feel those butterflies a bit more and I don't think it's any
0:27:06 > 0:27:07different to any player.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10The thing about the Six Nations is something always happens.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12It's never straightforward.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14And therefore, there's always interest in it.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18And just occasionally, it turns out to be extraordinary.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23I always think it must be the most boring thing imaginable to be
0:27:23 > 0:27:25an All Blacks fan. You know,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28you're on this kind of steady trajectory of triumph all the time.
0:27:28 > 0:27:34And yet, we only taste kind of delirium because we've had despair as well,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36and it makes it all the sweeter.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44So, off we go again.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47What will happen? Well, who knows?
0:27:47 > 0:27:49The unexpected.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52But even by saying that, perhaps there won't be any surprises.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56All we can say is that it will grab us,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59it will give as a right going over, it will lift us.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03It is the essence of what the Six Nations is all about.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Going out onto the Principality Stadium, the roof closed,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16a little bit of fireworks,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21the anthem going, knowing that there is 74,500 people in there,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24the majority of which have all got something red on and that
0:28:24 > 0:28:28shoulder-to-shoulder with your team-mates, your countrymen,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31is just incredible and it lifts you.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Oh, getting a bit nervous!