:00:05. > :00:11.Oh, BBC Wales. "Dear Chris, we liked your last offering, (Wales
:00:11. > :00:16.And The Five Other Nations). Can you do it again this year? Only
:00:16. > :00:20.this time, change the title to something shorter. PS. If you don't
:00:20. > :00:30.blow the budget, you can go to one of the games, too. But you need a
:00:30. > :00:46.
:00:46. > :00:49.Cost of title sequence, 7p. Right, then. So, what can we do in this
:00:49. > :00:52.next half hour? Well, I'll need to meet up with a Welsh legend, an
:00:52. > :00:55.English legend, and blag my way into a game at the Millennium
:00:55. > :01:00.Stadium. Plus visit headquarters to feel the vibe before the England
:01:00. > :01:03.game. The moment Big Ben chimes away the new year, I can't wait for
:01:03. > :01:07.the Six Nations to start. And it's fair to say, like all Welsh people,
:01:07. > :01:10.when I'm watching a game, I get involved. My producer knew this and
:01:10. > :01:16.thought it would be a good idea to watch me watching the Ireland game,
:01:16. > :01:22.live. Keep still and stay in your chair, he said.b I think he was
:01:22. > :01:26.taking the mick. Come on! No! 3-0. taking the mick. Come on! No! 3-0.
:01:26. > :01:30.That'll do. Go on! That's got to be a try!
:01:30. > :01:33.COMMENTATOR: I can't see how that'll be given. You're Irish. I
:01:33. > :01:38.hate that, when they show highlights and it stops the game.
:01:38. > :01:43.Yes! Great try. He's holding on, ref. That's our penalty. Oh, no!
:01:43. > :01:51.Shocker. Oh, there's a gap. COMMENTATOR: Ireland have got
:01:51. > :01:57.something better than a penalty. It's a try.
:01:58. > :02:03.COMMENTATOR: And the lead goes to 8 points. Agh. Arrrrrrgh. It's all a
:02:03. > :02:11.bit predictable. Yes! Great kick, Halfpenny. Come on, come on, get
:02:11. > :02:16.this line-up. Go on! Oh, that's a great pass! Yes! Awesome! Boom!
:02:16. > :02:21.What a brilliant try. Keep the momentum now. Go on, ship it up,
:02:21. > :02:31.Toby. Get hold of him! You've got to squeeze! Good tackle, George
:02:31. > :02:41.North. COMMENTATOR: Having a slug of water. What the hell are you
:02:41. > :02:42.
:02:43. > :02:47.doing, Bradley Davies? COMMENTATOR: A long ball to Tommy Bowe, who
:02:47. > :02:55.scores! You need to get people in there, you idiots! Here we go.
:02:55. > :03:05.Hands! Yes! Yeeeeeeeeees! Keep playing, boys, keep playing. That's
:03:05. > :03:06.
:03:06. > :03:13.it, great. Go on, Jamie Roberts. Get over him! Be patient, get over
:03:13. > :03:23.him! Come on, get over him. Yes! Come on! It's a penalty. This is a
:03:23. > :03:32.
:03:32. > :03:36.match-winning kick. I can't bear it. What a game. But for the national
:03:36. > :03:40.papers it was all about England. And let's face it, they hardly set
:03:40. > :03:44.the world alight. Look, it's Monday and there's a double page spread on
:03:44. > :03:49.the England game which was on the Saturday. Yet Wales's game which
:03:49. > :03:53.was on the Sunday - half a page. Still at least the western Mail's
:03:53. > :04:00.interested. How many pages have they got? One, two, three,
:04:00. > :04:10.four..five, six, seven, eight. Nine, ten They must have loads of people
:04:10. > :04:11.
:04:11. > :04:14.With Delme Parfitt as my mentor, the Western Mail gave me my chance.
:04:14. > :04:21.350 words on the Wales Scotland game, I was told I had to deliver
:04:21. > :04:25.by 9pm. But that's all I was told. What sort of words and how to it,
:04:26. > :04:29.were still a bit of a mystery. And this was a very different sort of
:04:29. > :04:34.writing to what I was used to. For a start, you couldn't just make
:04:34. > :04:38.stuff up. We were sat in the press box amongst all the journos and I
:04:38. > :04:41.was out of my depth. Five mins into the game and what I needed was
:04:41. > :04:49.advice from one of the most well respected rugby journalists in
:04:49. > :04:54.Wales. What have you written so far?
:04:54. > :04:58.vs Scotland. Ha-ha! I've got the teams right.
:04:58. > :05:02.John's got a computer. Why have you just got a pad? Well, I'm not
:05:02. > :05:06.filing urgently, so I can afford to make notes and bash it out in the
:05:06. > :05:09.office. I've written phrases to get in. "He
:05:09. > :05:14.had so much time, he could have texted home to say how well he was
:05:14. > :05:17.doing." Do you know what I mean? Phrases like that. I might steal
:05:17. > :05:21.that, actually. No, I'm putting that in mine. I'm
:05:21. > :05:26.getting that in somewhere. You don't want to put too many of
:05:26. > :05:29.them in, though. It becomes like an episode of Blackadder then. He
:05:29. > :05:33.twisted and turned like a twisty turny thing. No, you don't want
:05:33. > :05:39.that. As dominant as a mouse general in a
:05:39. > :05:42.cat army. That's a good one. That's a candidate.
:05:42. > :05:47.But Delme's politeness wasn't going to help me hit my deadline. I
:05:47. > :05:51.needed answers. Seriously, how much do I need to be
:05:51. > :05:55.writing down, and what do you write down? You don't write down
:05:55. > :06:00.everything that you see. The least you need to do is keep a record of
:06:00. > :06:03.the score as it unfolds. I'm jotting down some phrases
:06:03. > :06:08.associated with players. Jamie Roberts, like a really good-looking
:06:08. > :06:12.ogre on a rampage through a Hobbit village. But he hasn't done it yet.
:06:12. > :06:16.I wish he'd do it. Why don't you nip on and tell him?
:06:16. > :06:20.I think they're going to score here. And they'll have deserved it, to be
:06:20. > :06:25.honest. At the end of the first half, from
:06:25. > :06:28.the press perspective, it had been uneventful. Not a heck of a lot to
:06:28. > :06:35.write about. From a fans perspective it had been, well,
:06:35. > :06:39.wobbly. Luckily the second half was a
:06:39. > :06:45.different story. From my position in one of the best seats in the
:06:45. > :06:55.house, I started to getunprofessional.
:06:55. > :06:58.
:06:58. > :07:03.Sit down. You're supposed to be a hard-nosed journalist.
:07:03. > :07:08.Great try! How many minutes? 42 minutes.
:07:08. > :07:16.OK, now write something down. Patient build-up, going through the
:07:16. > :07:26.structure. Phases. Phases? Phase is better. Oh, this is more like it.
:07:26. > :07:27.
:07:27. > :07:33.How many minutes? 44 minutes. CROWD ROARS. Oh, ref! That's outrageous.
:07:33. > :07:38.CROWD BOO. Stuff worth writing down was
:07:38. > :07:44.starting to happen. And then Jamie Roberts delivered.
:07:44. > :07:46.Oh, there you go! I can put my line in! There he was like a good-
:07:47. > :07:56.looking ogre charging through a Hobbit village. It's a green light
:07:57. > :08:02.
:08:02. > :08:07.for that line. It was all happening. Do you think I'm tempting fate to
:08:07. > :08:17.buy give him the conversion now? would be. I'm going to write it
:08:17. > :08:26.
:08:26. > :08:36.How do you come up with a headline? You get a feel for it.
:08:36. > :08:38.
:08:38. > :08:45.They were having a ball! I won't be giving him this
:08:45. > :08:52.conversion because this is likely... Oh, well I will give him this one.
:08:52. > :09:01.See, I told you. You stick with me and you'll be fine.
:09:01. > :09:07.Job done Wales. Job barely started. Oh go is a bit harsh, howl about
:09:08. > :09:17.giant? I had about an hour-and-a- half to knock at 350 words. Sounds
:09:17. > :09:27.easy? Time pressure makes it harder. Right, he we go. Words, fine. Words,
:09:27. > :09:28.
:09:28. > :09:36.what are they? No idea. Any good? Rubbish. OK.
:09:36. > :09:40.Got to be accurate. Oh God, people are leaving. Come on. Right, OK.
:09:40. > :09:47.This young Welsh team feel special and are on the brink of doing
:09:47. > :09:53.something to match their talents. Finished. Good for a first go.
:09:53. > :09:59.Really nice piece. Thanks. But I had gone over my word count. Was it
:09:59. > :10:04.going to fit? Yes, it was fine. In fact, I was far too pleased with
:10:04. > :10:10.myself. Like a giant rampaging through a
:10:10. > :10:20.Hobbit village. I was on a roll and when on a roll, why not do the
:10:20. > :10:20.
:10:20. > :10:30.obvious thing? Text someone famous. High, Will Carling. You don't know
:10:30. > :10:35.
:10:35. > :10:45.me, but I feel like I know you like an old friend. Heated adversary.
:10:45. > :10:51.
:10:51. > :10:55.Fancy a coffee? Best wishes, Chris. Little case.
:10:55. > :11:00.Back in the day when the world was black and white and this was the
:11:00. > :11:04.height of luxury travel. The Twickenham trip was the trip abroad
:11:04. > :11:10.and it really was a broad as the Severn Bridge was not even built
:11:10. > :11:16.and the car ferry was the equivalent of the M4. Come on, put
:11:16. > :11:21.your foot down. Shut up, you nutter. It is too expensive. There is a
:11:21. > :11:29.song about this trip it is as popular now as it was back in the
:11:29. > :11:39.seventies. We played a-week initialling for
:11:39. > :12:07.
:12:07. > :12:13.HE SINGS. The next verse starts, into
:12:13. > :12:17.Paddington we did role. To tell the story properly and I needed a
:12:17. > :12:22.showbiz coincidence where I bumped into Max Boyce himself. Oh, he we
:12:22. > :12:26.are. It does not get much better than this. A chat with the Welsh
:12:26. > :12:30.rugby legend in the first class carriage where I am told you get
:12:30. > :12:36.free biscuits. Writer of legend ary hymns, tell me
:12:36. > :12:44.how did it all start because it is bigger than ever. I wrote it when I
:12:44. > :12:52.started out as a folk singer. Little did I think it would still
:12:52. > :12:57.be sunk now. Were those famous lyrics based in reality?
:12:57. > :13:03.collected every week at Twickenham will club card and paid in. It
:13:03. > :13:08.showed how much I paid in every month. It was a shilling it so I
:13:09. > :13:16.wondered why I started that song about paying a week in the shelling.
:13:16. > :13:23.We had to put, everybody now put five fingers up. We only ever had
:13:23. > :13:33.four fingers. So he was fined every week. He paid for about for all
:13:33. > :13:42.
:13:42. > :13:52.So many there we couldn't budge, twisted legs and pale. My favourite
:13:52. > :13:58.
:13:58. > :14:08.hymns... Coffee is it? Crisps? was before the England game in
:14:08. > :14:21.
:14:21. > :14:31.I never watch anything back. We sympathise with an English
:14:31. > :14:34.
:14:34. > :14:44.friend whose team was doomed to fail... Listen to that. 80,000
:14:44. > :14:49.
:14:49. > :14:52.people. Has that ever been sung along with as brilliantly? It was a
:14:52. > :14:56.lovely sunny day, and at the end, you know, you couldn't have
:14:56. > :15:04.scripted it that way. The London Welsh Choir backing me, and Tom
:15:04. > :15:07.Jones, and 80,000, I mean... Yes, I was there. So, what is your
:15:07. > :15:11.memories of leading into the performance? Were you nervous? I
:15:11. > :15:15.was very nervous, because of the occasion and Tom Jones. 80,000
:15:15. > :15:25.people, just to sing. I was singing the song and all the English
:15:25. > :15:29.
:15:29. > :15:32.players or on the field, running pass me. And Matt Dawson came right
:15:32. > :15:37.up and said, my mother loves you! Before the England and Wales game!
:15:37. > :15:40.How I kept going, I'll never know. And then I reminded Max about
:15:40. > :15:50.another great moment. See if you remember this - 2008 Grand Slam
:15:50. > :15:50.
:15:50. > :15:54.game... Oh, yes. And listen. EDDIE BUTLER: 'And Swing Lo gives way to
:15:54. > :15:57.Hymns And Arias - what is going on here at Twickenham? It is a
:15:57. > :16:00.remarkable Welsh comeback.' That was humbling - I'd heard it sung at
:16:00. > :16:03.Cardiff, never thought I'd hear it sung at Twickenham, it was a
:16:03. > :16:13.magical moment. The game changed, and they wanted to express what
:16:13. > :16:18.
:16:18. > :16:24.they felt, and they used the song to express it. Ah, more biscuits!
:16:24. > :16:30.I'll have the chocolate ones please. I'll have vote crunch. I don't like
:16:30. > :16:37.them. You've got to ask me now, is there anything else? Is there
:16:37. > :16:41.anything else? Yes, can I have some more biscuits, please?! I've never
:16:41. > :16:49.done first class - we can sell them when we get to Paddington! So, are
:16:49. > :16:54.you looking forward to this game coming up? England game? Yep.
:16:54. > :16:59.every game is wonderful in the Six Nations, and, er... Oh, hang on,
:16:59. > :17:03.sorry, Max. There's a... Oh, it's a text from Will Carling, look. "Hi,
:17:03. > :17:07.Korkey, sure, pop round. With the '93 Lions I shared a room with
:17:07. > :17:11.Scott Gibbs, who kept me out of the test team, so it won't be the first
:17:11. > :17:14.time a Welshman 'has had a laugh at my expense. I'll put the kettle on.
:17:14. > :17:22.Big kiss." Ah. Listen, I'm going to have to go. Sorry, Max. Give my
:17:22. > :17:26.regards. Ta-ta. You left your biscuit!
:17:26. > :17:28.Will Carling. And man who at the age of 22 took the England
:17:28. > :17:32.captaincy and turned them from perennial losers into Grand Slam
:17:32. > :17:34.winners. And the man who ruined the Nineties Welsh rugby fans loved to
:17:34. > :17:37.hate. Probably because he didn't smile much and everybody thought he
:17:37. > :17:45.was a bit of a... Everybody thought he epitomised English arrogance,
:17:45. > :17:49.but on first impressions, he was all right. Most of my time was
:17:49. > :17:54.spent thinking, this is where Edwards played, and JPR Williams.
:17:54. > :18:01.This was the Arms Park. But then we lost. What was that like going
:18:01. > :18:08.first time out? It was pouring with rain and Rob
:18:08. > :18:11.Jones box kicked us to death. We were gone. We got beaten. For me, I
:18:11. > :18:19.remember I drove back the next day, stopped in the first service
:18:19. > :18:22.station, got some drink and there was a coachload of Welsh supporters.
:18:22. > :18:32.When I came out of the shop, they had made this tunnel all the way
:18:32. > :18:35.
:18:35. > :18:40.out. And the abuse I got walking I remember getting in my car, I
:18:40. > :18:46.can't repeat it, but I remember thinking...yeah, not next time.
:18:46. > :18:49.Really? I thought you were going to say they clapped you through. Right,
:18:49. > :18:52.it was time to find out about England players of his generation.
:18:52. > :19:02.When you played, was Dean Richards the latest player in training as
:19:02. > :19:03.
:19:03. > :19:06.one would assume? -- laziest. Yes, we would get in the changing
:19:06. > :19:10.rooms an hour and a bit before. Everyone had their warm-up routines.
:19:10. > :19:16.Dean would sit down fully dressed, would get out the paper and do the
:19:16. > :19:22.crossword. Honestly. You would sit opposite me at Twickenham and about
:19:22. > :19:25.15, 20 minutes to go, I would have to say to him, Deano, 15 minutes.
:19:26. > :19:30.And he would put his paper down, put the pen down, eventually put
:19:30. > :19:34.his kit on, he wouldn't even pull his socks up. He might touch his
:19:34. > :19:39.toes, not all the way down, and he would go out and be brilliant. But
:19:39. > :19:44.that would be him. He would sit and do the crossword. Was he the
:19:44. > :19:53.hardest guy you played with or against? I think Winters probably,
:19:53. > :19:56.Winterbottom. We played the South- West. I got caught in this ruck,
:19:56. > :19:59.and they had John Hall, Chilcott, you know, and they were kicking me
:19:59. > :20:02.to death. "Who's the new kid? Give him some." And there was
:20:02. > :20:07.Winterbottom, my hero and teammate, about two yards away, just looking
:20:07. > :20:10.at me, like that. I'm thinking... Eventually it stopped, the whistle
:20:10. > :20:14.went, and I got up and walked past him and he went, "Well done." I
:20:14. > :20:23.went, "What?" He went, "Don't ever make a noise, mate, "just
:20:23. > :20:28.encourages them." So, growing up as a kid, who were your rugby heroes?
:20:28. > :20:32.It was all the Welsh boys - JPR, Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett. When
:20:32. > :20:36.I was about eight my dad had to break the news to me that I was
:20:36. > :20:39.English. We're the guys in white, Will, and we lose. I've got some of
:20:39. > :20:46.your greatest rugby moments here that I wonder if you could talk us
:20:46. > :20:50.through? Mmm. Oh, yeah. No, this is... This is a great... This is
:20:50. > :20:59.special, this is... People don't understand skill, see? Look at that
:20:59. > :21:05.- being able to run...and... Push! THEY LAUGH. That's a great try.
:21:05. > :21:08.was. I was very grateful to you for that, because I had you in the
:21:08. > :21:13.sweepstake. So, externally, I was, "Oh, no!" Internally, I was, "Yes!"
:21:13. > :21:23.How much did you win? 45 quid. OK, just talk us through this one, as
:21:23. > :21:29.well. Yeah. Particularly about the tackling. Ah... Yeah, I'm not sure
:21:29. > :21:32.what was going on. Look at that! It was just sheer fear - oh, keep away
:21:32. > :21:35.from me! Who was the guy...? He tried to get me with his knees,
:21:35. > :21:44.didn't he? He comes in, and luckily his missed... There. In fairness,
:21:44. > :21:50.that is a great finish, but the tackling... ..was... Some things
:21:50. > :21:58.you just can't stop. This one you can commentate over - you're Eddie
:21:58. > :22:08.Butler. A nobody likes to see this the! The little porker has been
:22:08. > :22:10.
:22:10. > :22:18.held up! I thought... I thought you could ask me some questions. I have
:22:18. > :22:27.prepared some questions. It is Mastermind. Can we have our first
:22:27. > :22:37.contestant please. Occupation? Broadcaster and comedian. Maybe
:22:37. > :22:42.
:22:42. > :22:46.just leave that as broadcaster. Specialist subject? Will Carling.
:22:46. > :22:54.Who was the rugby union centre who became the youngest-ever English
:22:54. > :23:00.captain of the AA -- aged 22? Carling. Who was in the second
:23:00. > :23:07.Regiment of Wales? Will Carling. Who was criticised for not passing
:23:07. > :23:11.the ball out of the backs? Will Carling. Who led England to three
:23:11. > :23:15.Grand Slams in the 90s? Will Carling. Who has a social
:23:15. > :23:23.networking page about him called Will Carling fan club which was
:23:23. > :23:32.last updated in 2002? Will Carling. I have started so I'll finish. Who
:23:32. > :23:42.was the greatest England player of all time? You have scored six
:23:42. > :23:44.
:23:44. > :23:53.points. And no passes. It is sad when somebody last that they are
:23:53. > :23:59.prepared jokes. Will Carling was a top bloke. So, Twickenham, we have
:23:59. > :24:04.only won here twice in 25 years. It is -- it is a big, cold, open
:24:04. > :24:08.stadium. The wind can sap the energy from you, a ghost of the
:24:08. > :24:18.cold-hearted dominance from the era back in the day. But that era has
:24:18. > :24:33.
:24:33. > :24:42.This is a big game on Saturday. We are starting as favourites. It
:24:42. > :24:52.wasn't quite the same in 2008. England had just lost in the final
:24:52. > :25:02.of the World Cup. I get the impression that you are supremely
:25:02. > :25:02.
:25:02. > :25:07.confident? I am confident. 20 points difference. And for the
:25:07. > :25:17.first half, it looked like Jerry was going to be right. They started
:25:17. > :25:22.
:25:22. > :25:27.Then they started knocking out Welsh flankers, and then they
:25:27. > :25:32.scored a try... It was a bit of a nightmare. So dominant were England
:25:32. > :25:39.in that first half that the only highlight for Wells was Matt Jones
:25:39. > :25:47.narrowly missing getting his head taken off. Second half, England got
:25:47. > :25:51.off to a good start. They were 96 up at this point. But then... A
:25:51. > :25:59.penalty brought it back to 99. Then something weird happened, because
:25:59. > :26:04.we started doing stuff. England started... I don't know, something
:26:04. > :26:14.weird happened. They all started panicking and playing in the wrong
:26:14. > :26:17.
:26:17. > :26:22.direction. Two, to me, Tue, to me... This led to another penalty. That
:26:23. > :26:27.was 19-12. And then, even Johnny Wilkinson started panicking and
:26:27. > :26:36.chucking the sort of passes that you will be gutted if you threw in
:26:36. > :26:46.an Under nines match. A cracking turnover, which Bottomley put us in
:26:46. > :26:47.
:26:47. > :26:57.the position that led to this try... Scored by Lee Byrne. Just at that
:26:57. > :26:58.
:26:58. > :27:02.moment, Welsh people started to believe. And Swing Low gives way...
:27:02. > :27:12.What is going on here at Twickenham? It is a remarkable
:27:12. > :27:13.
:27:13. > :27:23.Welsh Cup -- come back. Seconds later, this happened. Straight off
:27:23. > :27:31.
:27:31. > :27:38.the kick-off... Mike Phillips scores in the corner. Wales have
:27:38. > :27:48.scored! In it totally flipped around. In the space of, like, 30
:27:48. > :27:58.
:27:58. > :28:08.seconds. Then we got up to 19-26. Fans were going bananas. We loved
:28:08. > :28:26.
:28:26. > :28:36.it. England fluffed it. Watch this, Sat here in 2012, I don't get the
:28:36. > :28:47.