0:00:02 > 0:00:06Many things have happened since Wales last beat the All Blacks here at the home of Welsh rugby.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Anywhere. Nearly 60 years, for example.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12But a few things remain imperishable.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Take the name of the captain of Wales on that day in 1953.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18The man they called the Prince of Centres.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28COMMENTATOR
0:00:29 > 0:00:31And how good was he?
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Well, he was as successful as John Dawes.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37As thoughtful as Mike Gibson.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42As smooth as Jeremy Guscott.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45As robust as Philippe Sella.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51He was the Brian O'Driscoll of his day, of any day.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55He was the great, the truly great, Bleddyn Williams.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02COMMENTATOR
0:01:05 > 0:01:09My first recollection of the superstar was in the '50s
0:01:09 > 0:01:11when they talked of Bleddyn.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14He was very, very special.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21Bleddyn Williams, his name, will live as long as rugby's been played.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26For people of my generation, he was the best ever.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28He's still the best ever.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32History will judge Bleddyn Williams to be probably
0:01:32 > 0:01:34the supreme centre of all time.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40It's 56 years since Wales last beat the All Blacks.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44Here is a man who did it twice in less than a month.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50My father has now passed away, but if anyone asked him
0:01:50 > 0:01:55what was his most memorable game for the All Blacks, 1953 in Cardiff stood out like a beacon.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58CROWD SINGS
0:02:00 > 0:02:02He was a great centre.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04The Prince of Centres.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13The Prince of Centres was born not into royalty
0:02:13 > 0:02:17but into the large Williams family of Moy Road, Taff's Well,
0:02:17 > 0:02:18a village just north of Cardiff.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Taff's Well - on the River Taff.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24And complete with its well of warm spring water.
0:02:25 > 0:02:291923, an age of horse-drawn barges along the canals,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31tickling trout in the river,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35village life surrounded by iron works and quarries
0:02:35 > 0:02:38on the fringe of the great coal port of Cardiff.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42He was a true son of Taff's Well.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I had the privilege once of meeting his mother, the dear old lady
0:02:45 > 0:02:49that gave birth to all these children, including the 8 boys.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55He grew up a great rugby player, both for Taff's Well,
0:02:55 > 0:02:57he was spotted by a local teacher,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02he got into Cardiff and well, the rest of it is history.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07On the advice of Wilf Wooller, cricket captain of Glamorgan,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09rugby centre for Wales, Bleddyn was awarded
0:03:09 > 0:03:13a scholarship to Wooller's old school, Rydal in Colwyn Bay.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19BOMBS EXPLODE
0:03:19 > 0:03:24Consequently, this country is at war with Germany.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26AIR RAID SIRENS WAIL
0:03:26 > 0:03:30From Rydal, North Wales, and Cardiff, South Wales, to Phoenix, Arizona.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Whatever was going to happen on the home front in rugby did not happen.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38At least, not until the Second World War was over. Any rugby then was played in the services.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40In this case, the Royal Air Force.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45Pilot Officer Williams joined up at the age of 19 in 1942.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49And to get his wings, was posted to the desert
0:03:49 > 0:03:50on the other side of the pond.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55I was trained as a pilot in America and I qualified and came back
0:03:55 > 0:03:59and I was going on to advanced flying school. But when I did go back,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Arnhem had taken place and they'd lost so many glider pilots,
0:04:03 > 0:04:04and they had a surplus of us.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08So, I was volunteered to become a glider pilot.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14So, we did the Rhine operation, we dropped about five miles in the German side of the Rhine.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17But before I went on that, I'd been selected to play
0:04:17 > 0:04:21for Great Britain against the Dominions, as they were called then.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23The game was to be called at Leicester.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The game was a week after we'd landed in Germany,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30but on the Friday before the game was on the Saturday,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Hugh Bartlett was my CO
0:04:32 > 0:04:36and after the war, he become captain of Sussex...cricket.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38So, he said to me on the Friday morning,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41"Ble, aren't you supposed to be playing at Leicester tomorrow?"
0:04:41 > 0:04:44I said, "Yeah, but fat chance I've got."
0:04:44 > 0:04:45Well, he said, "Pack your bags."
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Within about an hour, I was on a Jeep,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and I was driven to the Rhine.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53Now, I went across... Going the other way.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Pick up more troops.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59They met me there with another Jeep, they drove me to Eindhoven in Holland.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Flew me from there to Brize Norton in Oxford.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I stayed the night.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07I went...I travelled to Leicester the following day,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10and played, and we won the game. And I scored a try.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15- Not even Hitler gets in the way of...- Exactly what I was going to say.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17The war was incidental to rugby football.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23'We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26'Today is victory in Europe day.'
0:05:26 > 0:05:301946, the end of the Second World War, he'd served as an RAF pilot,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34come back into civvy street, put his boots on again,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36and Leeds Rugby League Club
0:05:36 > 0:05:39sent their general manager to South Wales,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41and the general manager was one Edward Waring.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45And Waring came down, spoke to Bleddyn
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and offered him £6,000.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Now, £6,000 in 1946
0:05:51 > 0:05:55according to the experts is the equivalent of about seven million pounds.
0:05:55 > 0:05:56He turned it down.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59He said to me, "I almost went,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02"but I never wanted to go for two reasons.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04"One, I love rugby union.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09"Two, I'd had a scholarship to Rydal school in North Wales.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14"And I felt that had I cashed in my chips to go to rugby league,
0:06:14 > 0:06:16"I would have been letting them down."
0:06:16 > 0:06:19He stayed in amateur union in South Wales,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21but not just at any old club.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Straight after the war, Cardiff entered a golden age,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29playing a glittering brand of rugby that drew admirers from all walks of life,
0:06:29 > 0:06:33including a wing forward turned actor, Richard Burton.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38We'd be wrong, however, not to distinguish the gradations,
0:06:38 > 0:06:42and, after the Second War, a Cardiff side attracted so much talent
0:06:42 > 0:06:44that it created a style of its own.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48The mental picture that I have of Bleddyn, going back to the 1947 season,
0:06:48 > 0:06:50the wonderful 1948 season,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54when he set the club record for scoring tries,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58was always when Cardiff were, say, attacking from the halfway line,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00what you could pretty well depend on
0:07:00 > 0:07:02is that Bleddyn would come off his right foot
0:07:02 > 0:07:04to beat his opposite number in the centre,
0:07:04 > 0:07:05then he'd come off his right foot again
0:07:05 > 0:07:08to beat the open side wing forward who was coming across
0:07:08 > 0:07:12to try and nail him, having been told, "You will have to nail Williams,"
0:07:12 > 0:07:15and then as the fullback came across, he'd come off his right foot again.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18It was a triple side-step off his right foot.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22But one distinguishing, significant feature about him,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25above all else, in comparison to others,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27was the side-step, the jink.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Bleddyn could do it and give a masterclass
0:07:29 > 0:07:33on how to beat an opponent by the sleight of his legs, as it were,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35as opposed to sleight of hand.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40And leaving the opponent desperate in his wake.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42And then the posts would be right in front of him,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44but instead of taking the try himself,
0:07:44 > 0:07:50he would then show, absolutely to perfection, how to deliver a pass to the wing.
0:07:50 > 0:07:55In those days, it was much more difficult to pass the ball, the old leather ball.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57You used to have to sway your body away
0:07:57 > 0:07:59and you'd pass and move the weight of your body away,
0:07:59 > 0:08:03just to make sure you got a perfectly weighted pass into the wing,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06just here, below the stomach, so all the wing had to do then
0:08:06 > 0:08:08was catch it with two hands and run in.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11This was no one-man team.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13A one-family team, perhaps.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Of the eight Williams brothers,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17seven at some stage played for Cardiff.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Bleddyn has had an affinity with the Cardiff Rugby Club
0:08:21 > 0:08:23for well over 60 years.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Indeed, the family, I played with several of them,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Elwyn and Tony.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33It was always something that Bleddyn encouraged us to do,
0:08:33 > 0:08:38to play rugby,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43and also to make sure that we did the things correctly.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50But he always associated himself and been seen on a regular basis
0:08:50 > 0:08:52at the Cardiff Rugby Club.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54He endeared himself to the club.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59It was his beloved club and he belonged there.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Nowhere else except for Cardiff.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09There was another brother. Not of the same blood,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13but a soulmate, Dr Jack Matthews, centre partner.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18Hard, tough Dr Jack and Bleddyn, the perfect pairing.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Him and Jack, they were an inseparable pair.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25I mean, from the playing fields of the '50s
0:09:25 > 0:09:28right through almost until earlier this season,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31you didn't see one without the other.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36We call them frequently here the Dynamic Duo
0:09:36 > 0:09:38because they always seemed to be together.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42I can well remember, as a 19-year-old,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45having been chosen for the Welsh Secondary Schools,
0:09:45 > 0:09:50to play in the centre at the same time I was about to make my Cardiff debut as a scrum half.
0:09:50 > 0:09:56I asked both him and Dr Jack for some advice on centre play.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58They both looked at one another, had a laugh,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and said, you know, but they still gave me some great advice.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04What a contrast.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Bleddyn, who was all grace and artistry
0:10:07 > 0:10:12and Jack, the perfect foil, the man who would have gone through a brick wall,
0:10:12 > 0:10:17sheer power in the days long before there was any such thing as a gym monkey.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The amazing thing was their scissors move.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22I'd never seen it before
0:10:22 > 0:10:24and I'm pretty sure that was the first time
0:10:24 > 0:10:30that the scissors and dummy scissors move was instigated and played.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33He knew what I was going to do and I knew what he was going to do.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37It was something between us, I don't know what it was.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40The understanding came from above because we had no coaches.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43We used to talk a lot on the field,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47weigh up the opposition and then we'd work it all out accordingly.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49That's what one had to do in those days.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53I never had a hospital pass from him!
0:10:53 > 0:10:57International rugby had been on hold for seven years.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02Now aged 25, Bleddyn was more than ready for it in 1947.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Well, he was a role model because he could do everything.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10He was an outstanding attacker, outstanding defender.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15He had all the attributes necessary and I think, probably as a youngster,
0:11:15 > 0:11:19we all sort of looked at him as the model centre,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21we wanted to be a Bleddyn Williams.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26The centre was the showpiece, probably still is, of rugby.
0:11:26 > 0:11:33As kids, I might have wanted to be John Charles or Duncan Edwards,
0:11:33 > 0:11:34they were the heroes of the day,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and Bleddyn Williams was very much part of that.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40I remember telling my PE master then, Bill Samuel,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43that I wanted to be a centre like Bleddyn Williams.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49He was a star, a natural selection now for the Lions, but there was a problem.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52As Wales strode towards the Triple Crown in 1950,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56and as that year's Lions tour to New Zealand approached, he was injured.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00I was in plaster for three months, but I had to prove my fitness.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03And it was proved on the day at Bath when Wales played France
0:12:03 > 0:12:09the same day at Cardiff Arms Park, it was Cliff Morgan's first game for the first 15, and he said to me -
0:12:09 > 0:12:15cheeky little so-and-so - he said, "One way to prove yourself fit - score a try in the last minute."
0:12:15 > 0:12:17And he said "you'll do it".
0:12:17 > 0:12:22So off we went on the field. Two minutes from the end, Morgan said "Are you ready?" I said "Yes."
0:12:22 > 0:12:27He went outside the fly-half, inside the full-back, gave me the ball, I scored a try under the post.
0:12:27 > 0:12:28"Williams is fit!"
0:12:28 > 0:12:31The Ceramic arrives in Wellington, bringing to New Zealand
0:12:31 > 0:12:34the first British rugby team to tour this country since 1930.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38During its three-month stay, the team will play 23 matches...
0:12:38 > 0:12:44I was fortunate enough to go on a Lions tour in '71, and we were away what I thought was a long time,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48cos we had to play 26 matches over something like 13 weeks.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51But this particular '50 Lions tour,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54they seemed to be away for an eternity.
0:12:54 > 0:13:00And it's amazing today, to think, I've just come back from a Lions tour lasting, what, six,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04six and a half weeks? Whereas theirs was six months.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08It took them six weeks through the Panama Canal to get to New Zealand,
0:13:08 > 0:13:14and then they'd do the round the world trip and come back via Suez, another six weeks.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19To think of going away for that length of time really is quite extraordinary.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24This, the 5th British team to tour New Zealand, is composed entirely of players of international experience.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29Of its 30 members, 3 come from England, 5 from Scotland, 9 from Ireland and 13 from Wales.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34There were 13 Welshmen because they won the Triple Crown in 1950.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Now, we had no coach, so the four captains were the coach.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Karl Mullen from Ireland was our captain,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43but Bleddyn was the vice captain.
0:13:43 > 0:13:49And they actually did most of the training with us, and the management, and Bleddyn of course
0:13:49 > 0:13:55captained the side on many occasions when sometimes Karl Mullen was hurt at one time.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58But Bleddyn had a magnificent tour.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Throughout their tour the British Isles team has played fast, open football
0:14:03 > 0:14:05that has drawn record crowds all over New Zealand.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08The ball goes out to the British Isles backs.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12The ball goes along the line to Williams, who kicks for touch
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and finds it with a good one near the corner.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20One day, I wasn't playing, we were having a provincial match in the North Island.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25We were losing up to a few minutes of the game, and we weren't meant to lose this game,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29and I'm sitting in the stands thinking, "Surely we're not going to lose this game?"
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Just in the last few minutes of the game, Bleddyn Williams broke through,
0:14:33 > 0:14:38touched it underneath the posts and we won the game. I remember going in afterwards,
0:14:38 > 0:14:43talking to him, just saying, "Thanks, Bleddyn. That was really magnificent."
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Athletic Park, Wellington, and the British Isles and New Zealand rugby union teams
0:14:50 > 0:14:56take the field for the third of four tests. With the first game drawn and the second won by New Zealand,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00this may be the vital match of the rubber. British Isles win the toss,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Scott kicks off for New Zealand and the referee orders a scrum at the halfway.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12It would be another 21 years before John Dawes' Lions would win a series in New Zealand
0:15:12 > 0:15:18for the first and only time. But the 1950 tourists went down in history as one of the strongest teams,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21certainly one of the most admired.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26Cuts out two men and hands it to Bleddyn Williams who races down the field on his own!
0:15:26 > 0:15:30I can remember Graham Henry telling me that his father had told him,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34having seen the 1950 Lions team in New Zealand,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38that Bleddyn and Jack Matthews, the best centre pair he had ever seen.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Full time comes, with the final score 6-3 to New Zealand...
0:15:41 > 0:15:46It doesn't really matter which era you're in, if you're a great player you could have played in any
0:15:46 > 0:15:54generation, any era, and had he been on the Lions tour that's just been, he'd have been star of that side.
0:15:55 > 0:16:03Well, he'd created a great name for himself, showing the New Zealand chaps what a Welsh sidestepper
0:16:03 > 0:16:06was like, as opposed to, shall I say, the Maori sidestep,
0:16:06 > 0:16:13which always take the straight line, the straight route to any line and no deviation. But he did that,
0:16:13 > 0:16:18and succeeded, and then came home as if that was not enough for him.
0:16:18 > 0:16:25He came back and in 1953 of course, famously, he played against the All Blacks twice.
0:16:26 > 0:16:321953. It was a famous year all round. Post-war austerity
0:16:32 > 0:16:35suddenly was brightened by a sense of a fresh start.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Of scaling new heights. In sport, there was the Matthews Final,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Sir Stanley at his dazzling best.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49And the Ashes were reclaimed for the first time in 19 years.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53And then, late in the year, the mighty All Blacks came on tour.
0:16:53 > 0:16:54Huh!
0:16:54 > 0:17:00People talk about the fact that it's now 56 years since Wales last beat the All Blacks,
0:17:00 > 0:17:05and here is a man who did it twice in less than a month, each time as captain.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10Cardiff's golden age was supposed to be over.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14The great team of the late '40s had turned into something more faltering
0:17:14 > 0:17:17in the early '50s. But not on this day.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22We went to see them play at Llanelli, and we found a little flaw in their game.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26The idea was that we would throw the ball long into the line-out,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30tie up their back row, and then we felt, at the time,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33that man-for-man, we were much better than they, behind the scrummage.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36In the dressing room it was all a little bit tense
0:17:36 > 0:17:41but Bleddyn then spoke and eased our minds.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44He said, "We can do this easily. We've got the team here to do this,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47"we've got the half-backs, we've got the backs."
0:17:47 > 0:17:50And he turned and said, "It's up to you, boys."
0:17:50 > 0:17:52And...we responded.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Bleddyn always used to say they were underrated up forwards,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01but he always to say, "Get us 40% of the ball and we'll do the rest."
0:18:01 > 0:18:03'Completely undeterred by this,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06'however, Cardiff kicked off, and proceeded to show,
0:18:06 > 0:18:12'in a thrilling match, how the tourists can be beaten.'
0:18:12 > 0:18:13CHEERING
0:18:13 > 0:18:16'Within eight minutes, Cardiff were on the attack,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19'with Thomas sending Williams away on the wing.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21'A kick ahead was followed up strongly,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23'and from a scramble near the line,
0:18:23 > 0:18:24'Judd made the touchdown.'
0:18:24 > 0:18:26CHEERING
0:18:30 > 0:18:35'Cardiff, still with a couple of points in hand, continue to press the tourists.'
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Cardiff scored a second try through wing Gwyn Rowlands.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Final score - Cardiff - 8, New Zealand - 3...
0:18:43 > 0:18:46cue celebrations all round.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50It was tremendous. The reactions - wonderful.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54I think we owned Cardiff...we walked up and down the streets, you know,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57people were coming up and patting you on the back,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and shaking you by the hand, and it was quite remarkable.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Cardiff had the better side on the day,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and they fully acknowledge that.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09And it was a better game than the other one, as a matter of fact.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16CHEERING
0:19:17 > 0:19:23The rivalry between Wales and the All Blacks is as intense now as it ever was.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28In fact, today's intensity is born of what it was then.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33THEY CHANT
0:19:47 > 0:19:53THEY SING THE WELSH NATIONAL ANTHEM
0:19:53 > 0:19:56When New Zealand came over, they were 2-1 down in the series,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59they're probably about 23 up now in the series,
0:19:59 > 0:20:04but, at that time, they had lost in 1905, they'd won in 1924,
0:20:04 > 0:20:09they'd lost by one point in 1935...and....
0:20:09 > 0:20:12they were thirsting for victory in 1953.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16As All Blacks, we speak about that game. You know, you're told,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18in no uncertain terms, as an All Black,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21when you win, celebrate success.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23But park it very quickly,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26and remember your losses more than your wins.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28Well, it was something special,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32because I was youngster of just 12 years of age. I went with my father
0:20:32 > 0:20:37to the game. And we were standing at the end where it was all standing,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41but, typically Welsh, we were all handed right down
0:20:41 > 0:20:44to the front, so the boys could sit on the front row.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46So we had, really, a prime seat.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49My father, who's now passed away, you know,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52if anyone asks him what was his most memorable game for the All Blacks -
0:20:52 > 0:20:551953 in Cardiff stood out like a beacon.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Just three weeks after Cardiff's victory,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01the same place, the same opponents and the same try-scorer -
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Sid Judd scoring after the same sort of forward rush,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06just as he had done for Cardiff.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09'A wild scramble followed, and Judd dived over to score.'
0:21:09 > 0:21:12CHEERING
0:21:12 > 0:21:16New Zealand recovered, and the score stood at eight-all.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19'Someone tries to force his way over,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22'but restraining hands claw him down.'
0:21:22 > 0:21:26If Cardiff's win was purer, more expressive of a certain style,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Wales' win was gutsy, improvised.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Down to 14 men, stand-in wing Clem Thomas launched a kick,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34and it was gathered by Ken Jones.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37If Cardiff's win was the cue for celebrations,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39now the whole country went mad.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41CHEERING
0:21:41 > 0:21:46It was a great achievement, really, because we had no coaches at all.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49I still pinch myself, really, you know,
0:21:49 > 0:21:51to captain two sides against them within a month,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53which is rather nice.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57What we didn't appreciate was the enormity of the victory.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00To us, it was the All Blacks, something special,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03we had never seen anyone from another country before.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05And to come over and have Wales beat them
0:22:05 > 0:22:09was something which just sticks in your memory.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12- COMMENTATOR:- 'And Rowlands converts the winning try.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14'Wales have triumphed...'
0:22:14 > 0:22:18We're not expected to lose, which puts a degree of pressure on,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21but if the All Blacks lose, it's a national disaster.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jim Bolger once said to me,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28"When the All Blacks win, I'd love to be the All Black captain,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31"but when they lose, I'd much rather be the Prime Minister of New Zealand,"
0:22:31 > 0:22:34which puts it in perspective.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Whenever I look back at Bleddyn Williams' record
0:22:38 > 0:22:41and realise that he not only played against the All Blacks,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46but he captained Wales and Cardiff both to victories
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and, dare I say it, they were celebrated annually
0:22:50 > 0:22:54up until very recently and why shouldn't they?
0:22:54 > 0:22:57One of the great joys I got out of being an All Black
0:22:57 > 0:22:59was the pleasure it gave to Mum and Dad
0:22:59 > 0:23:02and they went to every game I toured, played,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05except in 1989, we toured Ireland and Wales,
0:23:05 > 0:23:11Mum had to go by herself because Dad would not go back to Wales.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15Time was running short on the field.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20He would retire with 22 caps, having captained Wales on five occasions,
0:23:20 > 0:23:22and won five times.
0:23:22 > 0:23:28He really should have gone on the Lions tour of 1955 to South Africa,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32but somebody decreed that nobody over the age of 30 should be selected.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36The Prince of Centres deserved better than to be a victim of ageism.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40Perhaps it was time to look beyond the playing side of rugby
0:23:44 > 0:23:47There was a trail being blazed. What to do next?
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Follow his young fly half, Cliff Morgan, and go into the media.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54..Have had very much better in the first half.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57In fact, it's been a very disappointing game...
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Because of Bleddyn's fame and his wonderful personality,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04he was able to bring to that little studio
0:24:04 > 0:24:07in a chapel down in Broadway in Cardiff
0:24:07 > 0:24:09some of the most famous people you can imagine.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14One day, he turned up with Stanley Baker, the actor, Sir Stanley,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17who admired Bleddyn, as we all did.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20I have Bleddyn's autobiography
0:24:20 > 0:24:23and it automatically opens at page 37
0:24:23 > 0:24:28because he says that if I hadn't fallen for the lure of tinsel and paint and so on,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32I might have made a very nippy wing forward for Wales.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34However, I think he was being over-generous.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38SINGING
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Bleddyn became the presenter, with his blazer,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46presenting Welsh Sports Parade on a Tuesday night.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51Tonight's Sports Parade comes from a very famous sporting centre here in Wales.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54It was very pioneering and Bleddyn, I have no doubt about it,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57was very much part of how we established ourselves.
0:24:57 > 0:25:03We could pick defensive players, as we have in the past, especially in the centre,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- but I would favour people like Gerald Davies... - I'm going to interrupt you
0:25:06 > 0:25:09because we've just heard that the team is through now.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Full back, Teddy Price...
0:25:13 > 0:25:15Stuart Watkins, right wing.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18He was the image of BBC Wales television sport.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22and he carried that mantle very well indeed.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28And then he wrote about the game for over 30 years for the Sunday People.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33From Moy Road in Taff's Well on the edge of Cardiff
0:25:33 > 0:25:36to the centre of the city, to the centre of the rugby world,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38the Prince of Centres,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41and beyond, to writing and broadcasting
0:25:41 > 0:25:45and further still, to enjoying a quiet pint in Cardiff Athletic Club
0:25:45 > 0:25:47with his soul mate Dr Jack,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50or quietly watching from the back of the press box,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53the retired, retiring Bleddyn Williams.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56But what peaks he had mounted in the middle.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58The twin peaks of '53.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02They set him apart. They defined a marvellous life.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09I was at a club awards ceremony in Mid Wales
0:26:09 > 0:26:11and Bleddyn Williams was the guest of honour.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16The club president introduced him and there was a polite round of applause.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18I said, "Hang on. This is the player
0:26:18 > 0:26:20"the centre of all centres,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24"who beat the All Blacks not once, but twice, in 1953,
0:26:24 > 0:26:28"who was captain on the last day Wales beat New Zealand."
0:26:28 > 0:26:32So, for Bleddyn Williams, not a polite round of applause,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36but farewell to one of the greatest players of all time.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44# I've been wasting today
0:26:44 > 0:26:48# I could just run away
0:26:48 > 0:26:56# Out where the west winds come
0:26:56 > 0:27:00# With someone like you
0:27:00 > 0:27:05# A pal good and true
0:27:05 > 0:27:13# I'd like to leave it all behind and go and hide
0:27:13 > 0:27:17# Someplace that's known
0:27:17 > 0:27:21# To God alone
0:27:22 > 0:27:29# Just a spot to call our own
0:27:29 > 0:27:33# We'll find perfect peace
0:27:33 > 0:27:37# Where joys never cease
0:27:37 > 0:27:44# Out there beneath a kindly sky
0:27:45 > 0:27:49# We'll build a sweet little nest
0:27:49 > 0:27:53# Somewhere in the West
0:27:53 > 0:28:02# And let the rest of the world go by. #
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