RAYER QUALITIES

LIFE AND TIMES OF A RUGBY ICON

HE won 21 caps for Wales, he was the first player to move clubs for a transfer fee, he is the longest-serving director of rugby in England .... and he has a drinking session named after him!

It’s been some sporting life for Mike Rayer, one full of high and lows, but most importantly one which has brought him lifelong friendships and memories.

And, rather uniquely, it’s also brought him a beer in his honour, in the shape of the “Mikey Rayer All Dayer”, produced by the Crafty Devil brewing company.

It’s a title which was inspired by the former Cardiff full-back having been immortalised with his name used as a shorthand for a good old session on the booze.

Going on a Mikey Rayer is, of course, the rhyming slang for an all-dayer, a term which is probably used by a fair few people who don’t actually remember his playing days.

So, how did it happen? Who coined the phrase?

Well, let the man himself take up the story.

“It must have been about 1994,” he recalls.

“I was in the Welsh squad up at Twickenham and my wife was on the wives’ and girlfriends’ bus.

“Anyway, they went past some supporters and they had these ‘I’m on a Mikey Rayer” T-shirts.

“She was like ‘What the hell is going on here?’

“They turned around and it had “All Dayer” then on the back of the shirt.

“So that’s where it stemmed from. I believe some students made it up. I’ve no idea exactly who came up with it. “It certainly grew a bit then! “There’s definitely people who say it who don’t remember me playing.”

Then a few years ago, the term gained a second wind when Cardiff brewers Crafty Devil launched their Mikey Rayer All Dayer pale ale.

“They did it, then sort of held their breath and kept their fingers crossed!” reveals the inspiration for the tipple.

“I just took it for what it was. Then eventually we got together and met up.

“I just like the story. I think it’s brilliant. Two lads out the back in a shed. They gave up their jobs and turned it into a nice little business for themselves. They didn’t want to become millionaires or anything, they just wanted to brew beer. They are absolutely rugby mad. They are big Cardiff Blues supporters. They are good guys.

“They had the little cellar down in Canton and now they’ve got their own bar in Cardiff.”

That newly-launched bar, on Church Street is named Beelzebubs and, fittingly, Rayer, was a special guest at the opening last week where he presented the owners with a specially-framed jersey to go on the wall.

And so the All Dayer is now even more enshrined in the drinking vocabulary.

“It’s a bit surreal when you ask for a pint of it somewhere and they don’t know who you are!” quips Rayer.

“But my All Dayers are well and truly gone now. I can just about manage a half these days.”

Rayer’s gift to the new bar brought back memories of the early days of a playing career which took in two spells at his hometown club Cardiff either side of a stint at Bedford, where he is now about to embark on his 14th season as director of rugby.

“That jersey I gave them was from the 1987 Welsh Cup final against Swansea,” he reveals.

“It’s staggering to think it’s 31 years ago now. I couldn’t quite believe that. So that was a bit of a shock when I looked back at the date of that one.”

Having graduated through the junior ranks of Llandaff North RFC, Rayer made his Cardiff debut in 1985 and soon became a firm fans favourite at the Arms Park with his counter-attacking and trademark side-step.

“It was just having fun with my mates at the end of the day,” he recalls.

“We just did what we did. We worked through the week, I even worked on Saturday mornings before games.

“The release was going out and playing and having fun on the Arms Park. That was the way I treated it. I never thought too much about it at the time.

“I just got on with it.” Despite his consistent club form, international recognition came relatively late in the day for Rayer, who eventually made his Wales debut at the age of 26.

That was in the ill-fated defeat to hard-hitting Western Samoa at the 1991 World Cup in Cardiff, when a series of Welsh players left the field injured, including Tony Clement, whose departure opened the way for Rayer to come on as a late replacement.

“The physicality of the Samoans shocked the life out of us,” he said.

“It’s one of the most brutal games I’ve witnessed for sure.”

Rayer was to go on to share in the famous 1993 victory over England and then score two tries as a replacement for Nigel Walker in the following season’s Five Nations when he helped Wales win the title.

And yet, it’s the three cup wins with Cardiff that really stand out for him as the high spots of his career.

“I know people might find that silly,” he said.

“It was a dream, going up and playing for Wales,

“But it was reward for what I did for the club really.

“In the first two cup finals in 1986 and 1987, I was lucky to be playing in a side full of Cardiff superstars, names that roll off your tongue.

“Then the one in 1994 was pretty special because we were more of a team that had come together under Alec Evans.”

As for the best players he shared a pitch with, three names spring to mind.

“I was lucky to have trained and played with Terry Holmes for a short time before he went north,” he said.

“He was just immense and I remember him winning games on his own.

“Then there was Mark Ring and Paul Turner.

And what about the biggest characters?

“Ringo would have to be up there! Steve Ford was always good for a craic, too,” he says.

“Then with Wales, I remember spending a couple of weeks in Spain and Portugal for the World Cup qualifying games in 1995 when Mark Perego and Garin Jenkins kept me entertained for a fortnight.

“They were unbelievable. Some of the things Perego used to come out with were just so funny.”

Spending the first decade of his career in the amateur era, Rayer had a series of different jobs away from the game, including sheet metal worker, insurance, glazing, crane hire and running a service station on Caerphilly Road.

Then, from 1995 on, he had some six years as a professional.

“There were good moments in both eras. You get the same memories from it,” he said.

“The fact we were getting paid didn’t really make a difference to me. It was still about going out and expressing yourself and enjoying yourself with a group of mates around you.

“There was less spotlight on the amateur days and we probably got away with a bit more than we should have.

“But I just enjoyed playing, until I broke my leg and then it did become a bit more serious after that.”

That double fracture of his right leg came when he was at the peak of his powers in October 1994 and it was a traumatic experience as he was left lying on the pitch at Treorchy for some six minutes before the stretcher arrived.

“Overnight, after that, I had a mindset change,” he explains.

“Because I worked so hard to get back and play again, probably a little bit of the enjoyment went.

“I loved being at training with the lads, but because of the trauma I suffered through the injury, playing didn’t quite have that same feeling that it did before.”

As such, his move to Bedford in 1996 came at the right time in terms of giving him a new lease of life and it also made history as it involved the first payment of a transfer fee in rugby.

“It was quite funny, because it was actually worth more than my contract in Cardiff!” he reveals.

“When I did come to Bedford, it was a whole new thing for me.

“I had never been out of Cardiff at that stage. I was 29, 30 and suddenly had a bit of fresh impetus and I had a great two years here.

“I was getting paid, but it didn’t feel like that. We had a great bunch under Paul Turner and I had a brilliant two years here.”

A return to Cardiff followed and he was to be co-captain as they won the

My All Dayers are well and truly gone now. I can just about manage a half these days MIKE RAYER