Rhodri understood the passion of sport in Wales

RHODRI Morgan’s Welsh ancestors left an indelible mark on the sporting life of the USA long before the man himself got round to doing the same in his native land. A great uncle, Tommy Davies, emigrated with a few coalmining friends during the 19th century to seam a richer mine in the Land of the Free.

When word reached them of the second gold rush, Tommy and his pals headed for Criple Creek in Colorado. And it was there that they befriended a young hobo who was handy with his fists.

The Welsh immigrants collected enough money to pay for a few boxing lessons and put Jack Dempsey on the road to becoming world heavyweight champion.

Some 80 years later, Tommy’s great nephew Rhodri left another historic mark on American sport in his capacity as First Minister of the Welsh Assembly. As a super salesman for Wales, he attended the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Kentucky, assuring them all that golf ’s famous trophy would be in safe hands at Celtic Manor.

Sir Gareth Edwards had been part of the winning Welsh delegation.

“The speech he gave in Kentucky was one of the finest,” Edwards told BBC

Radio Wales. “He always spoke so passionately about sport that just listening to him made me so proud to be Welsh.”

Morgan’s passion was in full flow in Cardiff last week when he addressed the annual Welsh Sports Hall of Fame dinner, how he yearned for the Swans to survive in the Premier League and how he looked forward to the Lions beating the All Blacks.

None of us in the banqueting suite of Glamorgan’s cricket stadium would have dreamt this would be his last speech. Twelve minutes before noon last Tuesday Rhodri emailed the trustees of the WSHOF his congratulations on the dinner.

Shortly afterwards he went for his usual bike ride and suffered a fatal heart attack. A ‘giant’ of the Labour party, Rhodri Morgan was 77.