70’s or the class of 21... so which era can rightly claim to be best?
THEY may have been denied yet another Grand Slam. But if, as we hope, Alun Wyn Jones and his team win the Six Nations title again on Friday night it will be a further triumph in what has been dubbed Welsh rugby’s second golden era.
The first, of course, was in the 1970s – a period of Barry, Gareth, JPR, Merve the Swerve, the Pontypool front row, when Five Nations titles and Triple Crowns seemed to come every year.
There were three Grand Slams, 1971, 1976 and 1978, while Wales were on course for another in 1972 with three wins out of three before the game in Ireland was called off.
So is this current generation the greatest Welsh rugby has seen – or does the Class of the 1970s still hold that title?
Remember, it’s only a bit of fun.
Back three
JPR WIlliams, Gerald Davies, JJ Williams v Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Shane Williams
When JPR burst onto the scene he created a new mould for future full-backs - someone who was courageous and rock solid in defence, but whose incursion into the line caused havoc in opposition defences.
He created so many tries for his team-mates, and also scored a fair few himself. Normally against England! I don’t think he lost a game against them at any level.
Other legendary full-backs, like Serge Blanco and many more, modelled their own game on what they had seen from JPR.
He was also hard as nails. If you felt it necessary to wager every single penny you have got on someone prepared to dive on the ball, or take a high kick, to stop a try in front of a rampaging New Zealand pack, then JPR was the man.
Gerald had blistering speed off the mark, an incredible side-step and scored some fantastic tries for Wales - a bit like Shane.
JJ was another true world-class wing, an international athlete with pace to burn who produced superb finishes for Wales and the Lions. He also did a lot of work off the ball, which is perhaps an area North has previously fallen down in.
It’s hard to call between those two, but whether you go with Leigh Halfpenny or Liam Williams at 15, I don’t think they can measure up to JPR.
Verdict: Two brilliant back threes, but the 1970s one was swashbuckling, had a licence to thrill.
Centres
Ray Gravell, John Dawes v Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies
Roberts was pivotal to Gatland’s game plan, he was asked to perform a certain role and he did it well.
Gatland was very much of the opinion that you had to keep going forward before you could think of going wide and Roberts on the crash became symbolic to Wales’ style.
The opposition knew what was coming, but they still couldn’t always stop it.
If the will had been there Roberts’ role could have evolved after the 2015 World Cup along the lines of New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams, by bringing an offloading aspect to his skillset. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.
But he was also hugely effective at what he did for the 2009 Lions in South Africa. As I recall, he was named man of the Tests, an honour Jonathan Davies took against New Zealand last time out.
Davies, to me, seemed limited for Wales - whereas with the Lions he appeared to possess a more expansive game. Maybe that was down to being with even better players in a different environment, I don’t know?
No Welshman in history has played with as much passion as Gravs. His desire for Wales burned incredibly deep.
Funnily enough in the early ‘80s, when he came back into the team, Gravs was asked to play the Roberts role, crash ball. He didn’t like it, knew he had far more to his game than that, but Wales felt he could do it better than anyone else. We were room-mates and one night before a game he was crying on my shoulder, telling me he wanted to play in a different way. But he did what his country asked of him Unfortunately, he got the reputation, even stigma, for doing so. He became a bit of a scapegoat and was, consequently, dropped!
Dawes didn’t stand out to the public amid the stellar names in the Welsh backline around him, but he was the one who made everyone tick
Verdict: Roberts and Davies were hugely successful at the crash-bang power style Gatland insisted upon; Dawes always wanted to put players into space.
Half-backs
Gareth Edwards, Barry John, Phil Bennett v Mike Phillips, Dan Biggar
I don’t wish to sound disrespectful to the modern players, but this is an unfair comparison. Whoever is picked at nine and 10 from any era simply cannot match up to three of the greatest rugby players that have walked the planet.
Benny or Barry? Take your pick, I can’t separate them. Nor could Gareth, mind. We were together at a tribute dinner at the Grovesnor in London a few years back and he was asked on stage who he’d pick between those two for a Lions dream XV. He picked Barry and Benny - couldn’t choose. We accused Gareth of copping out!
Great players. Okay, they couldn’t tackle like Biggar, so some suggest they might have struggled in today’s game. But obviously with modern coaching they’d have adapted to that facet of the game. As for their skill-set, it was out of this world.
Gareth would have been great in any era. As well as being a phenomenal rugby player, he was also an intense competitor and a great athlete. He was better than any scrum-half we have seen, either before, during or after his era.
He was a brilliant reader of the game, possessed this incredible self-belief because he knew he was that good. Phillips, who I pick ahead of Rhys Webb from the modern era, also had that belief in his own ability, a swagger that took him, and Wales, to great heights.
But I always felt Phillips could have been even better, like a ninth forward who would challenge opposition back-rows more often. He was a great scrum-half in his own right, but with a little more to his game could have been as good as Terry Holmes.
Verdict: The 1970s duo - whichever fly-half is picked - are head and shoulders above.
Front row
Charlie Faulkner, Bobby Windsor, Graham Price v Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Ken Owens, Adam Jones
Okay, this one is hard because I can hardly talk about myself!
I like Gethin and Adam, felt they brought different qualities to Wales. Rightly or wrongly, Gethin came across to me as something of a reluctant scrummager, but crikey he was effective around the park which meant many overlooked any deficiencies at the set-piece. He would always show up in the loose and I’m not sure I’ve seen a prop who’s better at pinching turnover ball at the breakdown.
Adam was 100 per cent about scrummaging, his sheer bulk gave Wales an advantage, the opposition would crumble and we’d get a penalty. But he wasn’t as effective towards the end when the rules changed, there was a delayed engagement and Adam lost the advantage of the hit.
I was also disappointed to see him taken off after just 30 minutes at the beginning of his career. Fitness was an absolute basic as far as I was concerned. That was instilled into me at an early age when my old Pontypool coach Ray Prosser used to say to be a top rugby player was 80 per cent about fitness, 10 per cent ability and 10 per cent luck.
But don’t try one without the other two.
Verdict: I will pass on this one!
Second-row
Allan Martin, Geoff Wheel v Luke Charteris, Alun Wyn Jones
Alun Wyn’s place in welsh rugby folklore is guaranteed. He’s been a tremendous player and captain, who has real mental fortitude.
Where he leads, others follow. He brings out the best in those around him, clearly possesses enormous respect within the dressing room.
He has been a mainstay through the success from 2008 to the present day. Wales would not have won as much without him. Enough said.
I struggled to come up with a partner for Alun Wyn, if I’m honest, hitting on Luke Charteris in the end.
At 6ft 10in he was higher off the ground than anyone else when it came to winning the lineout, but I also liked the way Charteris was so good at stopping driving mauls from the lineout - a real modern day strength of teams like England, Ireland, France, even Italy at times.
Allan Martin was a great athlete he had to be because back then there was no lifting, you jumped unaided and the opposition contested every ball. They would climb over you, there was a bit of a brawl, but Martin won more than his fair share for Wales.
His athleticism, and handling, also made him good around the field.
Geoff Wheel was immensely strong. You’d see a maul going up and down and just knew he was right in the middle of it ripping the ball out. He earned the nickname of ‘Geoff The Ripper.’
Powerful ball carrier, a strong character, he brought so much to the side. He was picked for the 1977 Lions, but a medical issue ruled him out. I felt so sorry for Geoff - it didn’t stop him going on tour with Wales to Australia the following year. He’d have made the Lions Test team, too. Verdict: If I were picking a composite duo I’d probably go for Martin and Alun Wyn.
Back row
David Morris, John Taylor, Mervyn Davies v Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau
Back-row has been a key strength of Wales in recent times, a host of world-class players bursting through. Top performers like Ryan Jones and Josh Navidi can’t really get a look-in, to be honest.
Lydiate is there because he was a Gatland favourite and named as Six Nations player of the tournament when we won the Grand Slam in 2012. I preferred it when Warburton and Tipuric played in tandem, felt the balance of the back-row was good and they seemed to complement one another. Warburton has captained the Lions, Tipuric has been a world-class performer for a number of years and shows no signs of slowing down. He’s one player who could have stepped into our team from the ‘70s and absolutely thrived with his open style of play and lines of running. We’d have loved to have had him.
Faletau has been phenomenal for Wales, a wonderful player. But better than Merv the Swerve? I’m not sure about that. Merv was outstanding. Verdict: So hard to call Conclusion
Apart from the major differences I mention at the start, power, size, professionalism, the philosophies were different as well.
The 1970s side were about entertainment. I guess perhaps what sums up the popularity of the ‘70s era is that some of those guys are still revered today and known simply by their nicknames
It’s still the Class of the ‘70s for me, but the current generation have been pushing them hard.